Farm Fresh: Rabbit sales, New recipes, and Pruning for Spring

I had a couple farm visitors looking to buy rabbits this week. Here is one of the Chocolate Silver Fox bucks that we sold.  Brother M and I had a fun time trying to get them to pose in show positions so that the buyers could get a sense of their conformation before coming over.

 Big sister A made meringues which left me with a bunch of yolks to use up.  I made lemon curd and then decided to try a basic sponge cake recipe from a European baking book that I found at a thrift store.  I know it is likely a British recipe since the measurements are in grams and the text in English.  Loved it! Super simple with only a few ingredients - a lot of eggs (6!), very little sugar, and still nice and moist.  Perfect for lemon curd or jam.

I also got the Prairie Homestead cookbook from the library.  We made the Apple Puff pancakes on National Pancake Day.

Last Sunday, I finished making an XL batch of a tincture (herbal remedy) called "Red Plague Remedy".  Here is the story about it.   I feel, especially in light of a possible current pandemic, that it is always good to be prepared with home remedies for serious illnesses. Regardless of whether or not you believe Claudia's story about the recipe, the ingredients are sound herbal remedies for a lot of different flu/pneumonia type symptoms -- so it made sense to me to make a batch.  I only made a quarter batch of what her recipe calls for and am dividing it & the costs of making it with two friends.

Because the herbs are tinctured in alcohol, it should remain potent for the next 15-20 years.

Plant and seed starting are continuing to expand rapidly.  I already have too much to fit on the grow light shelves and am rotating things in 12 hour shifts.

 Broccoli plants are hardening off -- going out on the porch for a few hours every morning. I hope to get them in the garden under row covers later this week.

 The josta berry hardwood cuttings have been in cold storage (garage) for more than a month now and I think it is time to let them enjoy some sun and try to leaf out.

 My little rosmarinis officinalis (rosemary) plant arrived in the mail from Monticello gardens just before the last frost.  I was afraid that it would not survive the winter and made a gallon pickle jar into a little cloche/greenhouse for it.  This is the first year that I have had a rosemary plant survive the winter.  It is thriving! Even growing out the edges a little.  Hopefully it will grow sturdy this year and I won't need a cloche for it next winter. I am sure it will not fit in a gallon jug by then...

 Lots of progress on my land clearing project this week. There are just a few big logs left that hubby will need to move with the tractor and/or cut into woodstove size pieces.

 I also spent time in the orchard this week.  I pruned all the trees and fertilized them with nice slow release rabbit manure.  A few needed some straightening or reinforcement of their protective cages.  I finished most of that too. 

 The elderberry bushes got the most serious pruning.  I took out a third of the branches and pruned all the remaining ones down by a third. (I did the same thing last year as well).  My big goal for the orchard is to keep all the trees to about my height or within arms reach and of course as healthy/fruitful as can be.  Every year before I prune I read more about it and learn new tips. This year I focused on keeping and encouraging more horizontal branches.

I potted up all the hardwood elderberry cuttings that were the right thickness (3/4")  -- about 50 altogether from the three bushes.  I also notices some softwood sprouts at the base of the bushes already.  I will pot those up for the plant sale as it get closer.

Family Fun: Cub scouts Klondike Derby and Blue & Gold Banquet

Last Saturday was full of activities. The annual Klondike Derby started at 7am. 

 Only brother M went with daddy this year because big sister A had a birthday party (waffle brunch) to go to in the morning and volleyball games in the afternoon.

 Then that evening both big sister A and M went with daddy to the Blue and Gold Banquet. A received her arrow of light and is just about to go on to join a boy scout troop.

 Meanwhile back at the ranch, brother S lost his second tooth.

 All the kids, minus brother M having been having croup-like symptoms this past week. Brother S had the barking seal cough and both he and big sister A had laryngitis for a day or two.  No fevers, just lethargic and mildly sore throats.  We used a lot of our homemade elderberry thyme syrup and the kids spent a lot of time resting under blankets in various parts of the house.  Everyone seems largely recovered now.

Big sister A had a funny "team work" spaghetti dinner at church where they all had their hands tied together. 

Celebrating a Life Well Lived

Our Goomie passed away this week. She was 92 and living in a nursing home.  I was sad and happy for her at the same time.  I am happy that she is free from her decaying body and mind; happy that she is reunited with her dear ones on the other side of the veil; and happy that she is still part of our eternal family. 

 Most of all I feel a tremendous sense of gratitude that she was in our lives.  She just lived a few miles down the road from our childhood home.  Close enough that we could go to her house every Sunday for dinner. And she worked for the school system so she had the same holidays from work as we did from school.  We had sleepovers at her house and went on trips together.  She was always there for us, ready to help and praise and make us feel loved. She came to all of our band concerts, plays, recitals, sports, and pretty much any milestone you can think of.  She knew what each of our favorite treats were and kept them in the cupboard for us when we would visit her. She took us to cultural activities in the community like the Mark Twain Musical Drama, to see the Budweiser Clydesdales, the Pumpkin Farm, and to see the Lipizzan stallions when they were in town. She made us each cross-stitches for our big achievements as well as one for each grand child that says, "Goomie loves (fill in the child's name) "    I think that was the message that came through the most as we shared our memories of her during the memorial. She was a constant in our lives, always making us feel special and loved.

 All my siblings came for the memorial as well as many old family friends and colleagues of Goomie.

 The church's Relief Society sisters prepared a delicious lunch for us.

 I met my nephew and my kiddos were happy to see what a new-ish baby looks like.

 Grandpop took some fabulous pictures while we were together.

 Big sister A practiced her baby holding skills.

 Brother S copied Grandpop's model cars.

 Daddy and the two older kids played an epic monopoly game.

 A few of the shots taken by Grandpop:

 Aunt S played with A's hair.

 It looked super when she was done:

  We had a wonderful visit with lots of time for conversation and catching up in between events.

 

 Miss L looks like she could be my sister S's daughter. She found that necklace and matching clip-on earrings in Goomie's jewelry box. Some days she is a tomboy and some days a diva.

Pinewood Derby: Race Day

 This week the kids (with a little help from Daddy) completed their pinewood derby cars.

 Saturday was race day and they all headed over there first thing in the morning.

 Big Sister A's car took first place in every heat of her den and Brother M's took first place in almost every heat of his den. Brother S and Miss L took 2nd and 3rd in overall in the "sibling" heats.

 In the overall pack races (top 3 from each den) M's car was 4th and A's was 13th. Lots of improvement from last year.  They are excited to get their prizes.

Un-illustrated week: This week was full of a lot of boring doctor appointments.  Brother M had his first orthodontic consultation. We all went to the chiropractor for our monthly adjustments and I had a routine check-up with the midwife (27 weeks).  Big sister A had a late night (8-10pm!) ice skating activity with the kids from church and we had a fun playdate with some homeschool friends.  The other mom and I worked on making 100 little paper flags for table top decorations at the upcoming cultural night activity at church while the kids made stop-motion animation videos. We also had our usual round of music and swimming lessons.  I was hoping to get a lot done on the brush clearing project, but only managed to get 5 hours in on Saturday.  We had rain every day this week and FIVE tornadoes touched down in our area on Friday. They were smallish, just enough to tear up trees and rip off shingles.  Our house was not affected luckily.  I did more planting and transplanting of seeds/seedlings and bred 4 pairs of bunnies. Two of the pairings are chocolate/chocolate coloring so we are hoping to have some lilac colored (so exciting!!) rabbit kits come from those matings in about a month. This is what the lilac colored kits should look like: