Whew! The holiday flew by.

What else is there to say. We had a wonderful Christmas with family galore. We did have to work Christmas Eve. Ted brought my daughter Tiffany and granddaughter Jasmine up from New Hampshire. They picked up my daughter Leah, Victor and my granddaughter Brianna from Bangor. They got there just in time for Alex and I to leave for work. Alex took time to nab a big hug from Brianna.

Leah had time to braid her hair and put beads in. I think she must have started listing to port with that weight. She was awake enough for a smile and a few dozen kisses before we had to leave. My daughter Sue and Tonya brought Alex's son Jake up and arrived early morning.

We got home on Christmas morning to a wonderful smell. The girls had started cooking. The turkey was in the oven. It felt so good to be home. We were so fortunate to have so many kids home at the same time. Jasmine is helping her Mom unwrap her presents too.

We started a Christmas tradition of building a gingerbread house. Each year the kids seem to get more on themselves and less on the house.


Tarah and Teddy came up from New Hampshire after visiting her family. They will both be at Thomas College this year together.

Even Ivy the Pug had a good time. We are working through a cold spell with lots of ice. We took a slide downhill backwards in the truck today. After that we went and got a small load of sand to spread over the drive. Hopefully we will have more traction tomorrow. We hope that everyone had a wonderful and happy Christmas. It seems that a lot of the everyday farm activities have slowed. Jasmine and I cleaned the chicken nesting boxes out yesterday. It smells better and the chickens seemed to approve. We hung another cabbage up in the coop. It was gone by the time we went to pick up eggs in the evening. No trace that it ever existed. We got 30 eggs from 40 hens today. That is pretty good for winter. We are having to keep the big brooder lights on in the hen house to keep them warm. It will be down in the 10's again this week. Brrrr...... Take care. Thank you to DC from Winnipeg for my first online soap order through my Etsy shop. That was a real thrill. We will be working three nights straight. Take care, keep warm. God Bless.

Getting Ready For Christmas

We were plowed out last evening and went out to finish the last minute Christmas shopping. Today is the day to clean, clean, clean. This has been a very busy day. I love a clean house but I would rather not have to do it myself. No housekeeper so we cleaned. We both have family coming Christmas Eve and Christmas. The house is decorated, and it does look warm and cheery. The stockings have a home. I have no expectations that our stocking will be filled. They just look really cute.
We have to work Christmas Eve so the girls are doing the cooking. We have a turkey and ham defrosting. Next year we hope to have one of our own turkeys ready for roasting. I have never had a fresh turkey, I'm told that there is no comparison. The last of the baking needed to be done so Alex started rolling out her Phyllo dough for Baklava. (I weigh 10lbs more now)







Notice the wicked looking knife?



Notice the evil gleam in her eye?

It's because I kept stealing the Almonds.

Here it goes into the oven.



Mmmmmm..... warm crunchy Baklava straight from the oven.


Our first egg nog of the season. Anyone up for a diabetic coma?

Here is an easy recipe for baklava, it is calorie free, fat free. Any recipe that starts with "melt 1 cup butter" is dangerous.

Filling:
3 cups chopped walnuts
3 cups chopped almonds
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup sugar
Mix above ingredients together


Syrup:
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 cup honey
1 TBS lemon juice
Heat above ingredients until dissolved

Melt 1 cup butter


In a 9x13 pan (buttered), layer phyllo dough, buttering each layer with a brush. Be gentle, start with 10 layers of phyllo dough, cover with 1/3 of filling, then add 6 layers phyllo dough, top with 1/3 of filling, then an additional 6 layers of phyllo dough and the last of the filling, and end with 8 layers of phyllo dough. Brush butter on top, cut or score squares prior to baking. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Take the hot baklava from the oven, cut through scored layers, carefully pour hot syrup on entire pan, allow to cool.


We still have presents to wrap, egg nog to finish, take care, have a warm and safe evening. Watch out for crummy roads. Nite from Mainely Ewes Farm.


kelly

White Christmas in Maine

We worked 3 nights in a row, went grocery shopping just after work, went to sleep and woke up to this. Per the Weather Man we had 17" with three foot drifts. The wind is still howling up to 35mph. The sun is just now starting to shine, just in time to set at 3:30. The snow covered wreath on the front door was made with our very own hands. Alex was wearing gloves (allergy to pine/balsam). The wreath is Balsam, Pine and Cedar. We took a class at Mapleshade Farm in Garland Maine from Rachel and Linda Clewley. They do a really great job and ship all over the place.

The front pasture is knee deep, this is our outside Christmas Tree. I'm sure the snow plow folks appreciated the cheery lights as they plowed up and down Rt 221.

This is the wonderful job those heroes worked on. North 221 looking toward the beginning of the Appalachian Trail, Mount Katahdin in the far distance.
This is Metropolitan Bradford ,Maine. If you have a furrowed brow, it's a joke! Note our one and only blinking light. We don't even have a real traffic light. I love this place.

This is looking across the street to Kevin's, Cheata's and Nikia's house. Those people are the heroes I mentioned above. She was out plowing all night for DOT and Kevin is a Mechanic with DOT. Nikia came over to hang out with us this morning while mom and dad were working. She is a great kid. Notice, he is prepared with hay on a trailer. Cows will be happy.

Notice how pitiful the barn looks in the snow? Well it don't look so great without snow either. This is our summer project. If you notice the house trailer door on the side it gives you a great idea about some of the other "repairs" that were done in the past. The snow is way too deep for the girls to be outside. They have been on coop arrest. The snow slid off the barn roof on top of the coop and collapsed it in. Another summer job.

This is the beautiful pasture with an extra 50 fence posts. No fence, just posts. Winter surprised us this year. Use your imagination and think of a peaceful scene with wire, and sheep. While you're at it imagine green grass and summer too.

This is my winter look. I did not throw that shovel! Alex has a wicked sense of humor. I personally think I look good in Carhart.

(What is this Momma?)

I was reading a blog while at work the other night, (ok, so I like to play on their computer, it's much faster than ours) and read about giving the girls something to occupy their time. They tend to peck at each other when they get bored. We bought cabbage and hung it from the rafter on jute.

Hmmm....... what are we suppose to do with this?

Oh! Chicken Tether Ball

We wanted to leave you with a cute pic of Timba the fierce mouser in the rafters. Don't feel sorry for him he sleeps in a four poster bed complete with HDTV. We have another storm due Christmas Eve and on the following weekend. Winter has arrived. Take care and have a safe and Merry Christmas. best wishes from Mainely Ewes Farm. Love, Kelly and Alex.

No, it can't be December 1st!

How can it be December 1st alreay? It seems like Fall only arrived. We have been so busy and time does seem to fly by. I know that everyone feels this way. There have been a few milestones to mention. This is one of the very special ones.



Brianna is my youngest granddaughter. She turned one on November 11. What a cutie. She now has 4 teeth in and screams at the top of her lungs, just for fun. We were blessed with family up from New Hampshire for Thanksgiving. Alex's son Jake came up as did his brother Cliff and his new wife Sara. They have 2 beautiful children, Mia and Peirce. Alex is so happy to have a grandson now. Welcome to the family. My daughter Sue and her girlfriend Tonya came up, and brought my other granddaughter Jasmine with them. Leah and Victor came and brought Brianna. Teddy came home from Thomas College and brought Tarra. We had a table full. It was truly a blessing. We all fit! i hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorite holidays.


We finally got the wall up in the mud room. We had to insulate and install new wall board.

Then we had to paint and put up shelves. This is where I store alot of my soap and lotion making supplies. If you don't know what this color is, it is called "Cow Belly". I know this because I found a sticker of a cow, took it to Home Depot and had them match the color on the cow belly. I then proceeded to name it. "COW BELLY"

We bought a pellet stove from Lowe's. Ted unloaded it from the truck and put it into the basement. Then Alex and I proceeded to "install" it. I'm very proud of us. It took a few frantic calles to the stove maker to get things right. At first not enough heat and too many pellets. Then we got the air intake right and now have a wonderful heat. Can't live in Maine without heat. The basement is downright warm. We have vents in the floor of the kitchen, office and mud room alowing for the heat to rise.

This is the other source of heat we use. The propane logs in the living room heat the whole second floor, my room, living room and dining room. Not bad and more reasonable than oil. We will be finishing the floors in the next few months.

We did get to have some fun. The Christmas tree is up and we are getting into the Holiday Spirit. I think it makes the house even warmer.

And, not to be forgotten. When I opened the door last night this was waiting for me. I love Maine. I love the snow.

May everyone stay warm, be surrounded by loved ones, and find peace. Good night all.

Kelly

Rainy Sunday

Yesterday I said that Alex was an excellent artist. She loves to draw and paint. Over the years I have asked for different paintings. This was a Christmas gift from a couple of years back. I think pigs are the cutest. They are smart and remind me of dogs at times. Anytime pigs stink it is because their humans keep them in a small area and they cant get out of mud and muck. These pigs remind me of T and I. The frame is made of weathered barn wood.

This is a painting of the tug boats in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I have always thought they were personable. Like they have their own attitude. We lived in Portsmouth when we first moved up north. These tugs are on the Pisquatiqua River (I know I spelled that wrong). Alex painted this about 4 years ago. I draw stick people. No joke. If it is a girl there is a triangle for a dress, a boy with boxy pants. I have no talent. It's easy when I have a best friend who paints scenery and a boy friend who sketches portraits. Remember, I draw a great stick person. Wanna see a cat?

This is our neighbor Kevin. He came over to dig a big hole for us. Our barn does not have water. We run a hose out of the basement window to water the chickens. Winter is fast approaching and we have to have a water source. News flash. This is new to me. Water freezing in winter? Amazing, it just didn't do that in Florida when I was growing up. Now we have to have this thing called a hydrant with drainage so the water can flow back out of the faucet and into a rock bed after using. That way the pipe doesn't freeze. I keep learning so much.

This is a backhoe at it's best. Go Kevin Go. I'm in the cheering section.

This is what we got after about an hour. A big honkin hole. See the water? It rained today, all day. Now Chris will have to come out and install our new shiny water hydrant. Woohoo!

This is the expression on the faces of the girls when I told them that they couldn't go out today. They were not impressed. They like to stay in the barn on rainy days and poop everywhere. Just take a sec and imagine how much poop 45 hens and 2 Roos make. No, on second thought stop. It's not a pretty sight.

They weren't too mad at us. They gave us this beautiful bounty from their, ah.... hearts. Have a safe and happy evening. We have plans to paint and trim the mud room tomorrow. I will post pictures for anyone who is into self torture. Thanks to Peggy from Hidden Haven I can now post and move pictures around. Thank you Peggy. You are an inspiration. Night all.

Spiders have a life on the farm. They are in the barn, in the window sills, in the corner, in the chicken coop, you name it and they have staked their claims. I love spiders. They help keep down the fly population in summer. Anything that keeps flys down is good in my book. This one was in the bathroom window. The key thing to keep in mind is that she was on the outside. That's a good thing too. The weather is getting cooler and the leaves have already lost their color and fell to the ground. Fall is here and on its way out. Winter is reminding us that it's not far away. The folks in "The County" (an area north of us near the Canadian border) have already had 6 inches of snow last week. In Maine you are either born here or are "from away". When you don't understand something and ask a Mainer about it, they get a twinkle in their eye and a slight mile on their face and say "Oh, that's ok, you don't know, you're from away". I'm from away. I love Maine and Mainers too. I was sitting here looking at pictures from this summer and thought I would try and post them on Blogspot. It taint easy folks. I have to put the pictures on first in reverse order then type. Isn't there an easier way? Anyhow, here are some highlights of our summer. I hope you enjoy.

My daughter, Sue, and I went to Frelsi Farm to put a deposit on the sheep that we will be getting next year. They were so sweet. This ram was bottle fed and very loving. We spent the day traveling back roads and enjoying each others company. We stopped for lunch at "The Yankee Smoakhouse" barbecue. It was so yummy.

Alex, T and I went strawberry picking. Greed is a bad thing. We picked 19 quarts and they were divided between preserves and berries in the freezer for later this winter. We did give 2 quarts to the neighbors.

Maine has a wild life. No, not the one of clubs, bright lights and dancing. This beautiful girl came up one afternoon while we were working on the back of the house. She was curious about what we were up to. She kept easing closer and closer. By late afternoon she was laying in the grass about 200 ft away. People were stopping and taking pictures. A real traffic jam. In Maine two cars are a traffic jam. Anyhow, we went to work that evening and the next morning when we got home we had moose tracks by the back door. She had came all the way up to the house. I bet the cats had a spazz.

This summer we decided to let the chickens out of the coop. So far so good. Samson our main Roo looks out for our hens. He is such a handsome devil. Makes the hens swoon.

Most places have guard dogs, we have a guard cats. This is Oreo watching this hen very closely. He never bothers her. The cats think that the chickens are more powerful than they let on.

The girls are now free range during the day. We have 45 Barred Rock Hens. We are getting about 32-36 eggs a day. You may ask what we do with all those eggs. Well, we try to sell what we can at work. We give neighbors and family eggs. Actually we push eggs on everyone in shouting distance. They are all locking their doors when we stop by. Hmm. We have all the makings to build and paint a sign, EGGS FOR SALE, and Alex is a wonderful artist too. However, time is not on our side. When the masterpiece gets done I will take a picture of it and post. We take the left over eggs to the homeless shelter in Bangor. These wonderful people provide 3 meals a day and have no food budget. Everything is donated. The white roo in this pic is named "The Captain". He is for entertainment only. He doesn't lay any eggs, picks on all humans except T. He decided to make friends with T and then T wouldn't let us send him to the butcher with the rest of his brethren. He is the size of a turkey now and pushy as all get out. I keep threatening him with the roasting pot but I think he knows better.

At night the girls and Samson (the mostest handsome roo) go back in the coop for safety and warmth. It is getting chilly in Maine now. I hope you have enjoyed this update. We have been working a lot at the hospital and hence work on the house has slowed a bit. We will try to post more often. I will definitely work on posting pictures. I feel there has to be an easier way. Take care and everyone have a peaceful night and remember to Vote. We need everyone to be there.

Kelly

Fall- Officially Here

Well there is no doubt about it, Fall has arrived. We had a hard frost last night and the garden is prettty much done for. Just the other day we put 4 quarts of brussels in the freezer and I hope we can go and get another batch in the next few days as these are not really affected by the cool weather. We have also learned that here in upper Maine a summer garden is really a fall garden. So much of it is just now coming fully ready and then the frost gets it. We have absolute bucket loads of green tomatoes out on the now frost killed plants. How fair is that? I did get a bucket in on thurs of ripe ones and another of Italian peppers. We will just have to put up what we can. I did manage a huge pot of apple butter over the weekend and sent some home with the kids. Even Teddy took some back to college with him. Kelly made 4 wonderful zuccini breads with pecans and we have already devoured one.
Kelly's big accomplishment was getting some of the Christmas Soaps made. She did a big double batch of Gingerbread with pumplin flakes and several Holiday scents with stuff like cranberry seeds in it. It smells so good upstairs where it is all drying. It takes 4 weeks to harden and for the lye to ?dissapate or ?react or whatever it does. To turn into good luscious soap. The website still is not up so you can't get it yet but hopefully soon.
The chickens were free range for 3 days but are now back in their coop. We made a lovely door to the yard and set the girls free. They were delighted. So were we. We just got such a kick out of them that we sprawled in the grass and watched them for hours. They ate grass and chased crickeets and carried on when they got a grasshopper. How funny they are 46 hens and 2 silly roosters trying to guard them. Then yesterday we spent hours in the flower garden getting the new peonys from Canada planted and weeds pulled and dirt moved it low areas. Today the hens came in while we were asleep and chewed up flowers left and right. They scratched big holes and generally tore things up. So they are banned until we can figure out how to keep them freely home on the range and out of the garden.
Our neighbor Chris came and cut down the pasture grass along the fence lines while we were asleep also. Now we can get the new posts in and the fences started.
We took Leah, Kelly's daughter and her sweet baby to the pediatrician yesterday so she could get a persistent ear/sinus infection treated. I hate it when the babies are sick, they just don't understand why they feel so crummy and she keeps pulling on her ear. Hopefully in a couple of days she will be better.
I have a new great niece Wren. Welcome to our world. I miss your mommy and my sister has sent me beautiful pictures of you. Know that you are loved. Well thats about all for tonight. We keep our friend peggy at Hidden Haven and her daughter Melody in our prayers and for all our servicemen and women. From the far north....Alex