"Summery" Weather

It's been a beautiful day outside, sunny and warm (at least for us). The temperature was in the 30's, and the sun felt warm. The only drawback was the high wind warnings, with gusts clocked at 45-50 mph. I walked down to the mailbox before lunch and discovered the wind was directly in line with our driveway, so the blowing snow hit me directly in the face. It wasn't very pleasant until I turned around and walked back up the driveway.

My progress to the mailbox and back is always very slow, as we have a German Shepherd that insists I throw snowballs for him. All I have to do is start getting on my boots, and he is dancing around me and whining. I have never figured out why he enjoys it so much, but I enjoy seeing him having so much fun. Samson loves it when I throw them in the air and he jumps to catch them in his mouth. I always grow tired of the game before he does! It wasn't much fun throwing snowballs when the wind was so rough today, but the return trip was very enjoyable.

This is the mode of dress when temperatures head into the 20's. Yesterday I had to get David back to the house to get a jacket on, as the temperature was only 18 degrees! The above photo is of Andrew, Peter, and David. Samson is laying there, hoping someone will throw some snowballs for him!

Jonathan, enjoying a good book with our cat named Snowball.

Jim, Jonathan, Peter and David traveled to our neighbor's farm to help out today with running their sled dogs and giving rides to a Bismarck Girl Scout troop. Jonathan came home wanting a sled and dogs, and David came home wanting a snowmobile! He "helped" our neighbor with keeping the dogs on the right path and holding off other snowmobilers while the dog sleds were crossing their path. Our neighbor's property connects with the state park, so they have a lot of snowmobile traffic over there.

Peter, giving rides to two of the Girl Scouts.

Tomorrow the weather will moderate into the 20's. The wind will be down, but then snow is predicted to fall once again. I am anxious for spring.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Flatpicker

It's so hard to believe, but today Peter, our second son, celebrated his 15th birthday. I still remember the day of his birth, and it just can't be 15 years ago! He is such a blessing to our family. Samson thinks so, too!

Andrew, son #3, made Peter a cake to go with one of the birthday gifts he received -- a Gerber. Around these parts, a male homeschooler's attire includes a Gerber or Leatherman hanging from their belt.

Andrew also made Peter a contraption he found in one of the Foxfire books ... A donkey that kicks a man when the crank is turned. The boys were in the process of painting it today.

I also want to tell son #4 -- David -- a happy 9-1/2 birthday. We will celebrate his 10th birthday six months from today!

Learning Valuable Lessons

We just experienced another very cold snap, but tomorrow is supposed to be warmer than it has been the past few days. Spring can't come soon enough for me, although I have a lot left to do before I feel ready to tackle what's ahead for another growing season.

Last Thursday Jim, Jonathan and Peter traveled to Bismarck (four hours away from here) for the Home School Association's Day at the Capitol. The rest of us stayed home to do chores and hold down the fort. Jim elected to make it all in one day, since there's much to do around here. They had to get up at 3:30 a.m. in order to be out the door by 4:00. Everyone but me went to bed extra early the night before; I was still preparing food to take along. There's been so much happening in the way of food-borne illnesses that we have chosen to stay away from restaurant food and much of what can be purchased at the grocery store.

Jonathan and I also decided we'd better pack some heavy duty survival gear, since the weather was predicted to be bitterly cold. Jim is the type that would rather travel light -- too light by North Dakota winter standards. I rarely see him wear even boots when traveling, since cars tend to be warm inside. We added sleeping bags (also for in case they ended up spending the night in Bismarck) and plenty of outdoor winter clothing. Jonathan even added our tow rope.

I finally got to bed about midnight, and Jim was still awake. We aren't used to setting an alarm, and I worried that my ancient little travel alarm wouldn't go off when it was supposed to, so it was a fitful night for me as well. At 3:30 the alarm did go off, and I woke the three to get them headed in the right direction. It was then that Jim told me he wasn't feeling well, and hadn't slept much at all. Oh oh! They did manage to get out the door on time anyway, and I really wondered how Jim would do.

We didn't hear any more from the travelers until they returned about 10:30 that night. The boys related the story that they could tell Jim was getting mighty tired, as his reaction time was slowing down. There was also a high wind warning which made it difficult for them to see due to snow blowing across the roads. About 45 miles from home Jonathan noticed a stop sign quickly approaching, so he alerted his Dad. Jim pumped the brakes, but as they came to the "T" intersection he kept on sliding and ended up in the ditch. Jonathan said they kind of sat there for a bit in stunned silence. Jim realized how unprepared he was for an attempt to dig themselves out of the snow, and at that point my preparedness son Jonathan handed him his bunny boots and snowmobile suit. They also pulled out a shovel and the tow rope. The incident could have been very serious, and if they would have been traveling any later at night there may not have been anyone driving by until morning. The roads in North Dakota can be rather desolate, especially on a very cold night. However, the guys hopped out of the car, secured the tow rope, and I'm sure they prayed. About ten minutes later a lady in an all wheel drive SUV stopped and pulled them out. Up here it's almost a crime for someone to drive by without stopping to offer assistance. We are very thankful for that.

Since then Jim has become a preparedness nut that almost rivals his son. And I'm thankful for that as well!

(By the way, whatever it was that made Jim feel nauseated that day disappeared by mid morning; another thing to be thankful for!)

Sunday Afternoon Doings

Sunday afternoon Jim and I decided to go look for rosehips. I neglected to pick them after the first frost but we decided to give it a try since we knew last fall where there were quite a few loaded bushes. The day was so beautiful, with little wind, lots of sun -- and warm! We started out down the hill from our house, but there were not many to be found. I remembered a lot of bushes along the edge of our big field, so we headed out that way.

Too bad we don't have snowshoes or cross country skis, although I wonder if we could have stayed on top of the snow for long. We were plodding along in snow up to our knees, so we received quite a work out. I didn't mind, as it felt so good to be out and about after hibernating during the recent cold snap.

We skirted along the edge of the woods, and it was fun to check out all the deer trails and places where they had bedded down in the brush. I have a feeling that deer like rosehips as well, since the bushes we checked out last fall no longer were loaded with the rosehips. We did line our ice cream buckets with them, but that was all we found.

On the way back we walked close to the shore of the lake. Jim noticed a bush that had quite a few highbush cranberries, so he scrambled down almost to the lake shore to pick them. While we were there a snowmobiler came rushing across the lake, and we waited to see if he would run the thing onto our property. Thankfully he had sense enough to make a big u-turn and head back the way he came. It's frustrating to me to look out over our fields and see the scars of snowmobile tracks -- and know they belong to someone that is trespassing.

We passed a spot near the lake where beaver have been busy cutting down trees. There's a little stream that runs there in the spring, and a large downed tree we use to walk over the water. I had forgotten what was below the tree, so I stepped onto the log and then down on the other side -- only to sink to my hips in snow! It was a bit tough to get out of that one.

It was a very relaxing day, and I hope we have more sunny, above zero days to enjoy before spring arrives and the snow melts.

Only in ND

Looks like tomorrow's forecast indicates a heat wave:

Today
Sunny. Highs around 5 below. Variable winds 5 to 15 mph this morning causing wind chills of 50 below to 65 below. Winds becoming southwest around 10 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight
Increasing clouds. Not as cold. Lows around 10 below. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

Friday
Cloudy with chance of snow and light freezing rain in the morning...then partly sunny with slight chance of light freezing rain and snow in the afternoon. Not as cold. Highs 16 to 26. South winds 5 to 10 mph increasing to west 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation 30 percent.

Looks like we are in for a thaw!

Sun Dogs

Karsten left this note on my last post:



I had never heard of, much less, seen "sun dogs" before. They are beautiful. But,why are they called "sun dogs"?



Here is the photo my son Andrew took back in 2006 of sun dogs. The vertical line in the sky was due to Andrew having to piece two photos together to show the entire display.



I included Wikipedia's explanation, but they neglected to explain why "sun dogs" is their common name. Please let me know if anyone knows the reason why.

Sun dog

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A sun dog or sundog (scientific name parhelion, plural parhelia, for "beside the sun") is a common bright circular spot on a solar halo. It is an atmospheric optical phenomenon primarily associated with the reflection or refraction of sunlight by small ice crystals making up cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. Often, two sun dogs can be seen (one on each side of the sun) simultaneously.


PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

[Sun dogs appear on a cold day with blizzard conditions. This photograph was taken in the evening as the sun was setting in Fargo, North Dakota. ]


Sun dogs typically, but not exclusively, appear when the sun is low, e.g. at sunrise and sunset, and the atmosphere is filled with ice crystal forming cirrus clouds, but diamond dust and ice fog can also produce them. They are often bright white patches of light looking much like the sun or a comet, and occasionally are confused with those phenomena. Sometimes they exhibit a spectrum of colours, ranging from red closest to the sun to a pale bluish tail stretching away from the sun. White sun dogs are caused by light reflected off of atmospheric ice crystals, while coloured sun dogs are caused by light refracted through them. White sun dogs are also thought to be caused by the light from the sun reflecting off of water on the ground and focusing the reflected light on the clouds above.

The ice crystals causing atmospheric phenomena are shaped as hexagonal prisms (ice Ih, e.g. with a hexagonal top and bottom and six rectangular sides). Some of these crystals are elongated, some are flat; the latter causing crisp and bright sun dogs if evenly oriented with their hexagonal ends aligned horizontally, while the former produces other atmospheric phenomena, such as parhelic circles, 22° halos, circumzenithal arcs, upper tangent arcs, and lower tangent arcs. A mixture of various crystals with different alignments produces several of these phenomena at the same time.

When sunlight passes through the sides of a flat crystal, both the angle of the sun rays and the orientation of the crystals affects the shape and colour of the sun dogs. Misaligned or wobbling crystals produce colourful and elongated sun dogs, while light passing through the crystal in non-optimal deviation angles (up to 50°) produces the "tail" of the sun dog stretching away from the sun. As refraction is dependent on wavelength, the sun dogs tend to have red inner edges while the colours farther from the sun tend to be more bluish-white as colours increasingly overlap.


When the sun is low, the two sun dogs are located on the circle of the 22° halo. As the sun rises, the sun dogs slowly move along the parhelic circle away from the sun, finally to vanish as the sun reaches 61° over the horizon(e.g. the sun dogs move from the 22° halo to the circumscribed halo).


On Earth, the first planet (counting from the sun) with significant amounts of ice crystal-carrying clouds, the pair of sun dogs flanking the sun are aligned with the horizon. On other planets and moons where water and ice are less prevalent, however, various crystal structures produce different halos. On the giant gas planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune—other crystals form the clouds of ammonia, methane, and other substances that can produce halos with four or more sun dogs.


In remote stretches of western Texas, sundog refers colloquially to a segment of a common rainbow.

Cold Day

It was very cold outside today, and I can tell tonight and tomorrow will be very cold as well, since I just spotted the not quite full moon and a clear sky from my kitchen window.

This was the view from the same window today as the sun was rising:



Those are sun dogs on either side of the rising sun. Jim had never heard of them before moving to North Dakota, but I remember them from my growing up years in Minnesota. We have a better photo of them from back in 2006, but for some reason I can't get it to download. Sun dogs indicate a very cold day. I should have been outside before the cold weather hit, as we probably would have observed a ring around the moon. That indicates a change in weather is about to happen.

Living in the country causes you to observe things in nature which indicate changes in weather. I would not have noticed these occurrences while living in the city.

A couple of years ago I was driving north out of Minot, ND with a friend just after sunset, and we observed the most beautiful Northern Lights I have ever seen. It was as if the lights formed a ring all around us, and they bounced back and forth from the earth to the sky above. I wish I had had a camera that would capture the event, but it was useless to even try. We stopped the car and got out to observe the changing colors and patterns.

I'm looking forward to some day living on the main floor of our house with windows facing north so we'll be aware of nights when the Northern Lights are dancing in the sky. I'm sure they've been there even this winter, but we've missed them.

Captive Audience

David and his cat, Funny Face.

Details are Important

Our cow is old enough now to be bred. Since we don't have another cow we have to go through some alternative methods to determine when she is in heat. Jim has set himself a schedule of checking Sandy four times a day: 5:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 5:00 p.m., and 11:00 p.m. I'm glad it's him and not me doing the checking, since it has been very cold, snowy and windy out there.

Last night both of us stayed up rather late, and Jim asked me for the clock I keep by my side of the bed. The battery had quit, so I replaced it with a rechargeable one I found in the charger. Jim decided to sleep on the couch since he had to be up early and didn't want to wake the rest of us.

It wasn't more than an hour later that I heard Jim go outside and soon come back in and add wood to the wood stove. I thought he must have forgotten to let our dog Samson back in, since I heard him barking outside. I got up, let the dog in (Samson has gotten spoiled lately), and checked the wood stove. I thought it rather strange that I had heard Jim do the same thing not too long before, and yet there was room to add a few logs.

Morning came, and I didn't remember hearing Jim get up at 5:00 to check the cow. Jim's first comment was that he had been so tired when the alarm went off that he had great trouble getting up and going outside to the barn. I asked him what he was doing at 1:00 when I heard him go outside; he said he didn't go out until 5:00. I told him no, it had been 1:00. We checked the alarm clock, and discovered it had not been set to the correct time but when the battery was replaced it was left where the hands had stopped! Jim said he had left Samson out because he thought someone would soon be up to let him back in, and he hadn't completely filled the wood stove since he figured everyone would be up shortly and it would be taken care of then.

We all had a good laugh, and decided we'd better pay closer attention to details or the cow may never get bred.

Christmas Break Activities

So, what do homeschooled boys do on their Christmas break? Butcher pigs!

A couple of weeks ago Jim placed an ad in our local weekly paper, advertising two pigs for sale. I think the Bartletts are known in the area for dominating the want ad section, and through that is how we've purchased a lot of things.

Well, the two week period went by, and there wasn't even one call to express interest in the pigs. Today is butchering day. On a whim, Jim called the paper to see what happened, since we have yet to receive the bill for placing the ad, and discovered it never ran! We'll know better next year. Jim still has the leftovers of being a university professor in his brain, and likes to use email. Around here, physically doing things seems to be the norm, such as driving to town, walking in to the paper's office and handing them the ads. Apparently that is the only way you can be sure things go smoothly. I count it up to Providence, as now I will be able to pressure can some pork along with having more in the freezer. And fresh pork chops for supper!

But I Haven't Finished with our Last Storm!

Ice on my kitchen window during the cold snap.

I have more photos to share, we haven't been plowed out yet, and looks like another storm is brewing:

From the National Weather Service:

WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM FRI AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE SAT NIGHT. THE NATL WEATHER SVC IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH. WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM LATE FRI AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE SAT NIGHT. SNOW WILL DEVELOP DURING THE DAY ON FRI & MAY BECOME HEAVY BY FRI NIGHT & SATURDAY. SIX TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE EAST CNTL. WITH 4 TO 7 INCHES ACROSS THE CNTL [which is us Turtle Mountain people]. 2 TO 4 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE WEST. EXTREMELY COLD WIND CHILLS OF 40 TO 50BELOW ARE POSSIBLE WEST SAT NIGHT. NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE CNTL [which is us again] BY SAT AFTERNOON & NIGHT.

Peter, the goat milker.

Not Frozen Yet

We are all doing okay, in spite of the frigid weather. Our outdoor faucet (which is made for winter weather) did freeze up, so the boys have to come inside and haul buckets of water from the laundry tub to the animals. We did purchase a heater for the waterer down by the barn, but they still have to haul water down to fill it up. We just got the heater as the cold weather was beginning, and it sure draws electricity. It's a blessing, though, since the boys don't have to haul water down quite as many times a day as they used to.

Last night one of us neglected to get up during the night to refill the wood stove, so it was probably about 50 degrees in here when morning arrived. We won't do that again! I'm setting my alarm for 3:00 a.m. to keep the fire going. I did turn on the floor heat this morning, because the concrete was very cold to walk on. I'm not sure the boiler has even brought the floor heat up to the lower setting I had it turned to yet, but I can tell the difference when we use both the boiler and wood stove on these exceptionally cold nights. Unfortunately we'll pay for it when the electric bill arrives.

Jim signed up for off-peak heat with our electric company. That means they have the ability to shut off power to our water heater whenever extra electricity is needed, and we receive a cheaper rate on our electrical usage. Since this cold has started, we've hardly been able to use the water heater. Tonight I noticed the red light wasn't on which meant we did have use of the heater, so I finally got the boys to take quick showers before it went off again.


There are two things I want to show you in this photo ... One is how we dry clothes in the winter: around the wood stove. I place everything on hangers, and use clothespins to hang up socks and other items that could fall off the hangers. It certainly saves on dryer time.

The other item to notice is the old water heater on top of the wood stove. This is what is giving us hot water, in spite of having our regular water heater turned off by the power company.

We brought our wood stove from Fargo when we moved up here. Originally it was purchased for use during Y2K, but if I remember correctly, all we did was burn paper in it. A friend up here was getting rid of an old water heater and asked if we wanted it, and Jim thought he could rig up a system to have pipes running through the wood stove which would heat water, with the old water heater used as a holding tank. I don't know all the details, but it works pretty slick. The water is heated and piped to our "real" water heater in pipes running by the ceiling. I was more than a bit wary when we first started using this operation, but it does a good job and sure beats heating water on the stove. We do have to be careful about how much of the hot water we use at a time, since the old water heater only holds 30 gallons and it takes a while to heat more water. In the summertime the water still circulates through the pipes in the wood stove, but since the wood stove isn't operating the water isn't heated.

We ended up having to insulate the pipes that run to the "real" water heater, as the they would sweat from the very cold water that comes from our well and then drip on whoever was under them. We also had trouble at first when we didn't use enough of the hot water before everyone went to bed at night; we would suddenly awaken to the sound of running water. The PTR valve would open and send hot water through a hose into a bucket, but if the bucket filled and no one woke up, the water would be all over the floor and was a real mess to clean up. We haven't had that happen for quite a while now, and I'm wondering if the innards are coated with hard water deposits and affecting how warm the water is heated. We also had to be careful when using the shower, because the water was VERY hot.

I'll have to post some time about the love/hate relationship I've had with our wood stove. There definitely is a lot to learn about using them, and we had to learn a lot of it through the school of hard knocks.

What Do You Do When There's a Blizzard Outside?

The Weather Service wasn't kidding when it predicted frigid cold, snow, and fierce winds. We battened down the hatches, and prayed for the safety of our farm animals. Our dog Samson has found refuge in the house, and loves to lay by my feet as I work in the kitchen. I have to be careful not to trip over him, but I must admit that I enjoy having a dog in the house.

Jim checked up on the main floor this morning for signs of the temperature getting too close to freezing, and everything seemed okay. We are storing our potatoes, pumpkin and squash up there until they are consumed. We have a small hole cut in the floor just above the wood stove, so apparently that heat source is enough to keep the area where the produce is located above freezing.

Jonathan took another look right after lunch, and discovered the water bottle we keep up there as a makeshift thermometer was now frozen. We moved into high gear, and brought everything down. And the photo below is what took place all afternoon:

David was in the back, washing more pumpkins in the laundry tub.

I usually bake the cut up pumpkin pieces in the oven, but that would have taken forever. So, we also chunked pieces and boiled them on top of the stove. We must have a hundred pumpkins to process! I then mashed the pulp and placed it in bags that will go into the freezer.

There's more to do tomorrow!

What's in Store for Us

This just arrived in my inbox:


A WINTER STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING.



THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH, WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING. EXPECT 6 TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW & WINDS OVER 35 MPH FROM LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. WIND CHILLS WILL FALL TO NEAR 40 BELOW LATE SUNDAY NIGHT. TRAVEL MAY BECOME IMPOSSIBLE. IF NECESSARY, RECONSIDER TRAVEL PLANS.

----------------


Our winter has been rather snowy lately. In fact, our driveway was snowed in yesterday, due to a small amount of snow and lots of blowing. Jonathan needed to get to his vacuuming job this afternoon, so Jim tried using the station wagon. No go. Jonathan walked back up our quarter mile driveway and got the pick up truck (in need of repair of the rear brakes; we keep losing brake fluid) to pull out the car and then continue on to the retreat center. Even the gravel road going past our land has yet to be plowed, which is unusual for our township. In previous winters the township plow has come in to clean out our driveway without us even asking, so it makes me think they are starting cost saving measures. We tried to call them all day today, but no one is around to take messages.



Last night I had allowed our German Shepherd to come into the house for a visit. The younger boys were in bed, and Jonathan had just gotten there as well. All of a sudden Samson let me know he wanted to go outside -- highly unusual. I let him out, and saw him look to the right and stare. I took a look, and there was one of our pigs! She had climbed on the frozen hay in their pen and gotten out. Andrew had said the two remaining pigs have been a bit restless since the other two were butchered, but I hope this doesn't happen on a regular basis. Jim was still working on his computer, so I let him know and also got Jonathan up. I had just finished cooking up a bunch of pumpkins, so gave them the scrap bucket with the peelings, and away they went. Unfortunately, "Nancy" wasn't interested in the scraps. Jonathan ended up pushing her all the way down the hill and into the pen. At least she sort of cooperated! They did some bracing of the pen, and were back in by 11:15. So far so good -- "Nancy" hasn't been up to visit us since.



We discovered something else this morning that we are not happy with: Somewhere during the night we had visitors on snowmobiles. Many times people on those machines would follow the power lines and cut through our fields, but this time they must have taken a nearby snowmobile trail and then veered into our big field, right down to the barns. They then rode their snowmobiles in between the barns and onto the lake. It would have been easy for them to hit a fence or two, and I just hope it doesn't happen again.

We were told once by a local snowmobile enthusiast that NO HUNTING OR TRESPASSING signs do not apply to snowmobilers, but landowners have to post NO SNOWMOBILING signs to let people know not to use the land for their recreation. To us, NO TRESPASSING means just that, but I guess we learned something new. There are plenty of trails up here for snowmobiles and even a state park that is noted for their trails. I hope it doesn't happen again.

Leaf Lard vs. Regular Lard

Somewhere I had read there was a difference between leaf lard and regular lard. Just before we butchered our pigs this week I read again that leaf lard was superior to the other lard, and was what was used to make pie crusts, biscuits, etc. My source came from a tutorial I found on Granny Miller's blog .

When we processed the second pig I asked the boys to keep the leaf lard fat separate from the other, and yesterday rendered them in separate pans on the stove. I was very surprised to see how much quicker the leaf lard fat melted, compared to the other type. Last year I rendered lard and never really understood what the cracklings were, but with the leaf lard they were very easy to see as the fat was almost done rendering. The regular fat seems to stay rubbery much longer, and the leftovers in the pan weren't as crisp as the other cracklings. Maybe I didn't render them long enough, but it seemed like I was working with that fat all afternoon and into the evening and they weren't turning out quite like the other one.

I have more lard to render before I'm done with these pigs, and then it's time to do the tallow from the deer we butchered a few weeks ago. Then I can check that job off of my "to do" list -- which seems to be as long as my summer lists!

Pig Butchering

Time to take care of those pigs.



Last night we reviewed the DVD that John and Lisa Mesko of Lighthouse Farm produced, entitled, "Hog Butchering". You can find details of the DVD here. The information was very helpful for today as we got started on processing a pig.


This is what you do when you need some help!


Notice the computer screen in the background is still on Mesko's hog butchering DVD for reference.


Even the refrigerator has been taken over by pig information!

Peter and Jim are working on pork chops (and they tasted very good at suppertime).

Jonathan working on the chops as well.


Andrew was helping with cutting fat to render into lard. We went from the odor of dehydrating onions to lard being rendered. Good thing we aren't expecting company. I neglected to take a photo of David as he helped me package meat.

Winter Days

Yesterday a squirrel came out for some sunshine. We also have bluejays all over the place this year, especially when the boys set out corn on the bird feeder.

The boys are practicing their instruments as I write this post. These long winter evenings are perfect for catching up on activities that are placed on the shelf during the other three seasons. Peter usually goes to the barn to milk the goats about 5:30, and then we have supper. That gives us plenty of time afterward to relax and read a good book -- or play music.

I am still plugging away at dehydrating our onions and cooking up pumpkins for freezing. We had good crops of both this year, and I am thankful for that. A couple of days ago one of the boys came in to tell me that someone had left the extension ladder up to the 2nd floor from the main floor; this meant that all the cold air from the top floor had free access to the main floor where the pumpkins, potatoes and onions were being stored. During cooler weather we keep insulation boards as a covering between floors to keep out the cold air that comes in from the still open soffit area by the roof. The extension ladder is kept down unless someone needs to get into the next level. The boys hauled in the onions and we discovered our white onions had probably gotten too cold somewhere along the line and were mostly mushy, but thankfully the yellow onions were still okay. We got busy and filled the dehydrator with another load of chopped onions, and have yet more to go. We have quite the scent of onion when we start the drying process! The dehydrator sits on a table in the living room area.

This afternoon while I was baking bread the guys butchered two of our four pigs. They decided to take the bossy one first; she was also the largest. When they went into the pen to get her body, the other one they planned to butcher managed to escape from the fence. All that is needed to catch a pig is the bucket used to feed them scraps! Ours happened to be empty, so placing a pumpkin in the bucket was all that was needed to catch her. Their bodies are hanging in the woods near the house, and tomorrow afternoon we will probably begin processing the meat. I feel like I'm still recovering from processing venison, but we'll sure be thankful for the meat in the freezer.

Butchering animals has never been -- and probably will never be -- my favorite event on the farm. The gun shot brought tears to my eyes, but I rise to the occasion when the meat is brought in and we get started in the process. Our pigs have always seemed like dogs: friendly and curious animals. It is important to put their lives into perspective, and be thankful for how their life provides life for ours.

This is JP, one of our barn cats.

Enjoying Winter

Thanksgiving was a double celebration for us; we also celebrated Jim's birthday. The boys are masters at making the birthday person feel loved, and Jim's day was no exception. While Jim was working on something in the house, the boys were busy decorating their skating area with balloons and "danger" tape. If you look closely, you can see the balloons and tape down on the lake. We keep our four pigs down the hill in the valley between us and the lake.

Andrew has taken over the job of making cut out cakes, so he decided to make a cake for Jim that highlighted Jim's favorite berries -- raspberries and blueberries. We grew a lot of raspberries this past summer, and Jim is working on a domestic blueberry patch as well.

I asked David this afternoon if he wanted to walk with me the quarter mile down our driveway to get the mail with me. I guess boys don't really care for just walking. He needed a mode of transportation, and had Peter help him get Calliope ready for a ride.

As you can see, we had more snow yesterday. The township plow has not come in since it really isn't enough to keep us from getting out of the driveway.

David does a good job of getting Calliope to tow the mark -- unless she wants to do something else. We got down to the mailbox at the end of the driveway, and Calliope decided she wanted to take a run on the gravel road. Needless to say, we need a saddle! David slid off. I was glad to see that as soon as Calliope felt David falling off she stopped and patiently waited for him. We had to tie her to the mailbox post so I could help him get back on.

Peter then decided to take Calliope for a ride in the field, and allowed her to run. She loves running through the field, and I have heard she loves to run through water as well. I guess we'll find out for ourselves in the spring.

This isn't a great photo, but above is a picture of our one and only snowmobile. It was given to us the first winter we were here, by someone that probably wanted to unload some junk from their yard. I'm not sure how old it is, but we think it was built in the 1970's. Andrew found something on it that stated the machine was built in Twin Valley, MN, and it came with a Minnesota Vikings logo on the side. The machine was "updated" a bit, and a Canadian Motoski engine was installed in the thing. They don't even make snowmobiles like that any more! It's currently sitting in the middle of the field because it quit for the umpteenth time, and the boys are having trouble figuring out how to get it started again.

I had to include some photos of my flowers. The violet is doing well this time of year, and blooming like crazy. I dug the geranium out of the garden before the frost hit, and it's doing great!

Venison Processing

The older boys did very well this year, and we have four deer to process. Yesterday we finished one deer before heading to a friend's birthday party, and today finished another one. I am very thankful to have an electric meat grinder, or the process would take a lot longer. We aren't very fussy about our cuts of meat, and use more ground venison than roasts, steaks or stew meat.

Peter and Jonathan did more of the cutting off the bones,

and David and Andrew ground the meat. I took the job of packaging the venison for storing in the freezer. We are very thankful to have purchased a large chest freezer with profits from our summer raspberry business.

Occasionally we sneak our oldest cat into the house, but today she quickly became a pest, due to begging for scraps.

We also had a couple more visitors, watching us from the window over the kitchen sink.

Recent Happenings

Once again, I'm behind. I am getting ready for a craft/bake sale in town tomorrow (selling, raspberry jam, bread and buns), so I will send you to Jonathan's blog to read the latest.

What a Shot!

Yesterday was the 2nd day of the regular deer hunting season in North Dakota. Jonathan and Peter are both hunting this time, and they took different positions from each other last night before sunset. Later, both arrived home at the same time, and when David asked Jonathan if he got anything, the reply was no. No one asked Peter, so he piped up, "Don't you want to help me get my buck home?" He shot a large four by four buck, even bigger than the one Jonathan shot last year! We are thrilled! It is currently gutted and hanging up in the woods near the house. Coyotes must have found the entrails out in the woods, as our dog was barking furiously all night.

This poses a good problem. We are expecting company from Fargo for a few days this week, and between finishing up tomatoes, squash, pumpkin and onions, we have to figure out when to process this buck, as well as the deer Peter shot in Sept. and still remains in the freezer.

Now for Jonathan to shoot his deer!

Photos hopefully soon to follow.

Off the Campaign Trail

It's been a busy week. Come to think of it, it's been a very busy year. I'm thankful that the season of Jim's campaigning is over.

Jim, Peter and Jonathan spent the day Monday traveling all over District 6, picking up campaign signs. We were thankful the ground wasn't frozen, so the stakes weren't embedded in the ground. There also was a banquet to attend toward the western part of the District in the evening, and after that was over they still had more signs to take down. North Dakota has a law that states all campaign signs must be removed before midnight the day before election day. Peter told me they had to fill the truck's gas tank three times before they arrived home at 1 a.m.; that gives you an idea of how large of an area our District covers.

Meanwhile, back at the farm we were still processing carrots for canning. Peter called and left a message on our voice mail about 7:30 to ask us to milk the goats since they would not be home on time. I should have thought about that earlier, since they are usually milked about 5:30 every evening. Needless to say, we milked by flashlight. I had only attempted to milk twice before this, and was a bit apprehensive. Andrew had not done much milking in the past, and it was only David that had watched Peter as he did his chores. The boys recently built a new barn for the goats, horse and cow and had yet to install doors, so we milked also by starlight. The Big Dipper sure was bright, as it was a fairly crisp night.

I was amazed at what I witnessed. When we walked down to the barn in the valley, the goats were lined up at the fence, complaining that we were late. Andrew opened a gate, and out ran Leah, who promptly jumped up on the milking stand and waited for her grain to eat while milking. I tried my hand at milking her, and was very surprised and pleased that I finally had gotten the knack of milking. She is our best goat, and very friendly and patient. I've struggled with carpal tunnel syndrome off and on for the past 20 years and canning didn't help matters. Just milking one goat was all it took for my right hand to cramp, so I had to quit after doing Leah. I am hoping some day to be a two handed milker, but at this point I was thrilled that I did what I did.

When Leah was done, we sent her back into the fence -- and then Ebony ran out as Leah was going in. It's amazing to me that goats are such creatures of habit that once a routine is established they don't want to change. Ebony is harder to milk as her teats are very small. She also has bad front knees, so we had to help her up onto the milking stand. One of us would hold the flashlight, and another milked. Ebony wasn't as patient as Leah, and as soon as she ran out of grain she stepped into the milking dish and the milk was all over the stand. Oh well, our dog Samson was right there to lick it up! We finished with Ebony, and as she was going back into the fence another goat came running out and jumped onto the stand. I guess we didn't have to know Peter's routine for milking -- the goats all knew what to do and when to do it. We milked six goats, and three of them knocked over the milking dish. I had already decided all this milk was going to Samson and the cats, so it was okay.

Tuesday was election day. We went to town in the afternoon to do our voting, and then came home and made homemade pizza and breadsticks for supper, with ice cream for dessert. That meal is our celebration menu for just about any occasion. We were all thankful we made it through all the challenges of campaigning. Jim was not elected to the state Senate, but he gave it his all and we knew we had done what the Lord had called our family to do.