Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, I hope that everyone had a great holiday. I have not updated the blog in so long, the truth is Life on a Farm in Fanny Bay has been hectic. As things wind down and fall starts to settle in on us, I am finding more time and I look forward to sharing all the up and downs of the farm life. It is "farm frustrations" combined with Thanksgiving being my favorite holiday, that has brought me back to post. It is really easy to thank another person. It takes practice to feel that same gratitude for the littlest things in life like; a hot cup of tea when you need it most, birthday cake for breakfast on your 11 year old daughter's birthday, and being sent the right answer at the right time. I took the time to be thankful for some of the little things in life. Here are some of the things that make me thankful for Life on a Farm in Fanny Bay: (Click link to go to the begining.)

• Clean, fresh air



• Wide, open spaces (not that I need the room to make a big mistake)



• Raising our own meat and eggs



• Cherry blossoms



• Being more in tune with the passage of the seasons



• Owning a big outdoor dog and farm cat



• Heating our home with the wood stove



• Gathering floral bouquets from the garden



• In July, the night air cools down to make sleeping comfortable, unlike the concrete jungle



• Blaring your favorite music as loud as you want (I am listening to Fanny Bay's own Robert Steele, click to listen )



• The vacant "Farmer" position will soon be filled



• A safer place for kids, ours are free range



• It's easy to eat local, because everyone grows something



• Impromptu music jam sessions



• Old fashioned, candlelit family time whenever the power goes out...and it does



• How quickly the land awakens in the spring



• Slower pace adds years to your life



• Building your own chicken coop



• Bonfires



• Driving on a summer night with the windows rolled down



• No shortage of natural beauty to photograph



• Community dances



• Volunteer firemen, God bless 'em



• Impressing your city friends with all your knowledge of obscure chicken breeds (OK really some just laugh and other are confused as to what took place in the last year )



• Knowing when the seed catalogs comes out (who knew?)



• Outside looks like a picture post card no matter what the weather



• Witnessing baby chicks hatch



• There is nothing like a crackling fire and a glass of homemade wine to help you relax



• Discerning the pecking order of our flocks



• Eating sweet crisp fresh picked apples



• Stacking wood for the winter(OK watching the boys do it)



• Recognizing people entered in the fall fairs animals, craft and logging competitions



• Just picked today vegetables



• Long driveways, shaded by trees



• The smell of fall...and spring,winter and summer too



• Sitting outside under a starry sky



• Learning to identify constellations. Start with the Big Dipper



• A well deserved afternoon nap



• Waking up to the crow of a rooster (it doesn't wake me up any more)



• Self reliance, making do and learning new skills



• No need to go to the gym, every day is a work out



• Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
  
  
• Dropping a package off at a friends doorstep and knowing she will get it safely



• Waving hello to complete stranger

Rhubarb

Rhubarb

Rhubarb is the first fruit of the season to work with, also a delight to begin the canning and wine making for the summer.

Fresh Rhubarb



Rhubarb Wine

5 pounds rhubarb
1 1/2 gallons boiling water
1 cup raisins
3 pounds brown sugar
3 oranges sliced
3 lemons sliced
1 tblsp. active yeast

Chop all rhubarb and put into a crockpot. Add the boiling water and let it sit for 3 days covered.
Filter the liquid, and to that add chopped raisins, fruits and sugar. Add the yeast and stir well. Cover the pot again and leave in a warm area for 30 days to ferment. Give the mix a stir daily.
Filter the mixture again and pour into well sterilized bottles and keep in a cool area.
The wine will taste the best the longer it is allowed to age.

This will now stand fermenting for 30days....

Rhubarb Jam
2 1/2 lb Rhubarb
1 1/2 lb Sugar
1/2 c Water
2 ea Orange, rind & juice of

Wash and skin the rhubarb and cut into small pieces; add sugar and 1/2 cup of cold water. Grate the rind of the oranges and add to the rhubarb. Add the orange juice and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour into sterilized jars and seal.

Smoked Salmon

Smoked and Candied Salmon



The farmer made a batch of smoked salmon and candied salmon. The candied salmon was gone before I could take a picture...you could say they ate it up like candy :)

Dry Brine
4 Cups Brown Sugar
1 Cup Rock or Kosher Salt
Mix and multipy relative to the amount of salmon

Place serving size pieces of salmon, skin side down on the bottom of a plastic bucket and spinkle enough of the dry brine mix to just cover the flesh of the salmon.

Continue to layer salmon in the bucket, again, skin side down, and apply the brine mix to each layer until all of the salmon is in the bucket.

This is candied is for Candied Salmon

Store in cool area (40-60 degrees) for 10 hours.

Pour in a container of apple juice

Allow the salmon to air dry for at least overnight. The longer the fish sits on the smoker rack, drying, the deeper the "glaze" or colour of the final product.

Glaze the salmon with a mixture of apple juice and brown sugar.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

This one is for Mikey... a recent collection of pictures of the animals on the farm. Enjoy!

These Ducklings are only hours old.

Ridic and his dinner.

Wellsummers are getting along good with the other hens.

Speckled Bantam Rooster "Peanutbutter".

Kumi having an afternoon nap.

Black Bob and The Drake, these two male ducks are forced to hang out together because all of the girls are on nests.

A Duck Nest Tanya's Brood 4 weeks old.

Turkey Hen "Phylis aka Mama" on a nest of eggs. Millie is also on a nest...it is hidden from us.

Thomas, our tom turkey.

Ridic, the hunter

Bantam chicks enjoying some squash.

Kumi thought she might be missing out on a treat...or she thinks she is a chicken?

Red Rock Rooster "DRock"

Red Rock Hen "Ethel" she has a twisted toe and is missing some feathers. She only looks mean...she is a sweet heart.

More of Tanya's Brood

Chanteclere Rooster "Foghorn" crowingChickens enjoying papaya....a treat.

Cocoa on her nest...

Well you made it to the end of the collection of animal pictures and brief descriptions. Now is your turn. Have a look at the last two pictures. What kind of bird is that and what do you think it is running with? Tell the story of the two pictures.