The snow continues...

Our Christmas day included taking care of all the animals in some serious snowfall. We had some major drifts all over the yard, including a drift as tall as our large haybale behind the shed. Jeremy has shoveled and shoveled over the past few days and sadly, the wind had undone most of his work. Perhaps we will invest in that snowblower, after all.

We tried to make quick work of the outside chores, fed hay in the barn, shoveled a path to the water tub, and brought Cy inside to warm up. We also said several prayers of thanks for the water tank heaters. Breaking ice several times a day would not add to our winter weather fun.

We are also pleased that our chickens are still producing eggs, despite the cold temperatures. We are hopeful that warmer weather is coming soon. It will make things so much easier for everyone.


Even though we were freezing while we hurried through chores, this sweet birds nest in our Korean lilac bush was such a wonder. I had to snap a quick picture.

Travel safe, friends!

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Mother nature has been dumping a generous amount of snow over northeastern Kansas. We have had record setting snowfalls and cold windchills. Our alpacas have retreated to the barn and even under cover, they managed to get a dusting of snow over their warm fiber coats.

Jeremy has been a trouper about shoveling our drive and walks. We worried that our family would not make it for Christmas, but they did arrive to enjoy lunch together and open gifts. It was a fun time. McKenzy was disappointed that she would not be able to walk the alpacas in the blizzard.

McKenzy got to meet Joey. She is a huge fan of any kind of animal and has been so excited to see the new puppy. She loved playing with him and taking pictures.

A perfect weekend

This weekend Jeremy and I were so lucky to spend time with our dear friend, Tammy Jo. I met Tammy Jo when she was a student at K-State and we have kept in touch over the years. Jeremy got to know her better when she returned to help out with Wildcat Warm-up last summer.

We share a lot of interests in eating well, gardening, organic foods, vintage finds, baking/cooking, and more! We met up on Saturday to sample a little bit of everything.

Our first stop was Good JuJu, www.goodjujukc.com. This vintage store is my find of 2010! Great variety, great prices, and good people. We found some lovely glass blocks embellished with a stained glass design and some great antique spools in a galvanized bucket. Too cute!

We went to The Planters Seed and Spice Company, http://www.plantersseed.com/. They have an amazing selection of seeds, spices, tea, garden supplies, and a bunch of other stuff we could not even get through.

Dinner was at Jerusalem Cafe a Middle Eastern restaurant in Westport. Great portions, excellent food, and a really great time. Tammy Jo picked an excellent spot. We followed the delicious baklava with take out cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory on The Plaza.

The best part of the day was talking with Tammy Jo about her future and our shared interests. What a special day.

Meet Joey

The latest addition to Prairie School Farms is a little golden retriever puppy named Joey. He was a Thanksgiving surprise from my husband. He has been a really good dog for us!

We had talked about getting a companion for Cy. Since we lost Rookie last spring, it has been an adjustment for Cy to be on his own. We found out that he is over 100 pounds!! The new puppy keeps him moving since they are in constant competition for the dog toys.

Joey is adjusting to being inside very well. We are adjusting to a new schedule of getting home to keep him on a feeding and bathroom schedule. We also have to puppy proof. One of my big shocks was seeing him with the laptop cord in his mouth pulled tight with the other end in the wall. He was pulling with all of his might and loving every second...

We enjoyed a huge snowfall, nearly 10 inches! Joey had a great time playing in the snow with Cy while Jeremy shoveled and shoveled. I told him he had to have moved a dump truck full of snow to free our vehicles from the garage, make a path out the drive way and to clear paths to all the animals. Joey fell asleep on the floor and snored all evening.

We look forward to warmer temperatures this weekend and the chance to get outside and get some more pictures of the snow.

Pumpkin seed granola & inspired women

Last week I had approximately 15 hours in a car between three days of travel. Once the music got old, I turned to talk radio. Jonni McCoy, famous for her book Miserly Moms, was the subject of an interview. http://www.miserlymoms.com/

Jonni's story was one that started out of necessity - as most creative, determined womens' stories begin. She and her husband had to transition to living on one income. She was determined to find ways to save on her food budget, which included reducing or eliminating pre-packaged, pre-fab foods. She began to keep a notebook of cost savings ideas, recipes, price comparison information and more. Her friends started catching on and wanted to borrow her notebook. Fast forward a bit and she had a book deal.

Her story inspired me to think about our own food budget, including a few of our favorite (and expensive) grocery items. We love an organic pumpkin seed granola. It is pricey! A student told me last summer that her roommate made granola all the time - it was easy to make in great quantities and made their apartment smell wonderful. With those encouraging thoughts, we added a few ingredients to our grocery list and made granola last weekend.

The result: we left it in the oven a little too long, but lesson learned. It still tasted good and our house did smell wonderful.

Low Fat Granola Recipe

Makes 15 servings

3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup wheat bran
1 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup almonds (or pecans or walnuts)
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp cinnamon


Directions
Mix oats, wheat bran, wheat germ, nuts, and seeds in large bowl. In small bowl mix honey, brown sugar, orange juice, butter, and cinnamon. Pour honey mixture onto oats mixture and stir well. Bake in a 275º oven for 1 hour, stirring every fifteen minutes.

Homemade and very simple

Part of our quest for 2009 and was live a bit simpler - spend less, recycle more, and introduce fewer chemicals into our home and yard. Looking back on the year, we have not been perfect, but have made some gains on our goals for living better.

One particular win was to use our conventional cleaning products and begin making our own. I am very much a fan of the homemade disinfectant with tea tree oil. It has a very clean scent that is not overpowering and everything I have read about tea tree oil leads me to believe it a safe alternative to disinfecting with bleach.

This website has been really helpful for inspiration: http://www.mormonchic.com/dealdiva/homemade_cleaners.asp

Enjoy!

Farm life

I am still answering the question, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" A couple of weeks ago, I might have gotten a little closer to the answer.

We hosted several families in Jeremy's track club for an end of the year picnic. After a wonderful potluck meal, the adult types held their annual meeting and the yard was swarmed with kids.

At one point, we had a group walking the paths in the garden, one group interacting with the alpacas, and another group in the chicken house collecting eggs. Stewart was pretty proud of his find.

My favorite aspect of the whole night was hearing the kids ask questions about the animals and their purpose. One young guy collected a bantam egg and after considering that it was much smaller than Stewart's version asked me in a very serious voice, "Is this going to get any bigger?" I explained that the little eggs came from the little chickens and they would not get any bigger. It was also funny to think about putting the egg in water to see if it would grow like the spongy animals my nieces get from time to time. There is not way of knowing if that was my egg collector's idea, but it might have been close.

We also had a kid pick some cherry tomatoes in the garden. He came up to me and asked, "Can I keep these? I found them." He was invited to keep them, but we found them later that night in a safe place in the barn. He set them down to feed alpacas and forgot to retrieve them before heading home.

So, when I grow up, I want to help people, especially young people, learn about farm life. Some of my best and most natural lessons about the world - my future and my past - have been with my family weeding a garden, gathering eggs, doctoring an animal, canning garden bounty, checking cows in the pasture, moving farm equipment from field to field, having a farmhand lunch at my grandma's table, and sitting outside with ice tea after a long day's work listening to crickets. Surely, there is a need to understand our connection to the earth.