Random Round-Up

A few photos here to share. 

Eat your eggs. We are getting chicks! And they'll be laying. Eventually. 

I've been lucky enough to see the Aurora Borealis three nights in the past month, the new moon was encircling the whole sphere the other night and just before that, when it was dark, I was amazed by how the Milky Way sparkled. Our lack of light pollution here on the farm, as well as a cockpit nighttime scape, do bring fabulous sights I can't capture on camera. 

So colour photos for now then.

Good morning! Yes get out your sunglasses or you'll burn your retinas. 

The photo of the sun is even hard to look at! 

A lower deck of cloud stretching out toward the horizon where the morning light is breaking into a blue dawn.

I've now made mozzarella twice. Results are good. 

It takes about three hours to produce about 8 medium balls from a gallon (almost four litres) of milk. 

I'm sure the time could be cut down if I honed the heating portion of the process... 

My current pot situation may be a contributing factor.

I'm going to the big smoke at the end of the week to make some purchases. 

Pots have top priority.

Second time around I used gloves for the hot curd handling. 

Much nicer on the fingers - hot not burning - but an odd way to handle the cheese. 

Not that I really know how cheese handling is meant to feel. 

But somehow I know you're supposed to feel it. Like dough or massaging or milking a cow. 

Speaking of cows, I may use whole milk next time... So far I've only used 2%. 

I kept the whey and made six small boules (below) using the whey in the 

second addition of liquid in my standard straight dough, poolish method. 

I will never again let whey just drain away. 

What else? 

Happy Valentines of course! 

If I made these, or someone made them for me I'd hang them up all over! 

Happy love kisses and interwoven snuggles and sweet nothings whispered in ears. <3

Lilac Luxury

I wish I could say I'm writing this from a foamy, sweet smelling, hot bubble bath. 

But I'm clumsy at times. 

As in, inopportune times. 

Book over water, red wine glass on white table linen, socks on stairs. 

Oh yes. I recently took a slip-tumble-bounce down 11 hardwood stairs. 

My arm is worst off, secondly everything else. 

My body hurts for longer and pains more compounded as I age. And I'm not even old. 

So says I. 

Anyway, no writing in the bath. Claw foot and all.

Here is our lovely bathroom. A little Art Deco, 20's feel, with these lilac, yet sedate, walls. 

Oh, I always wanted a purple room! 

The colour is not overwhelming or even obvious. 

You may not even remark upon the shade, it's so delicate. 

But incidentally they're lavender or lilac or iced grape. 

We have a picturesque view of our "Aer Motor" wind-driven power generator from Chicago. 

Circa 1920 ish? 

Were my grandmas even born? 

Of course it hasn't been pumping water from the well to our cistern recently. Electricity is also good.

But a reminder of the farm's past. Very awesome.

Ingenious workings. All the remnants of the early endeavours are rather fascinating.

I did very little here. I won't be taking credit from Darcy and Paula who made this house as classic, time correct and dramatic as it is. Just a tad of chiselling, caulk, paint and a deep clean. You're meant to do that when you arrive someplace new. Though I must comment this may be the cleanest farm house, ever. I hope to keep it so nice. 

I know we certainly appreciate it's status and alllllll the wee perfect details. 

Knobs! Grates! Doors! Fixtures! 

The print below has been in many a bathroom of mine over the years. 

It's kind of (okay laugh all you like) Native Art Deco. But it is, right? 

Until I have anything more fitting, it'll stay right there. 

The colours are good. 

The black and white tiles... 

Caramellow-Yellow

The inaugural cake to be baked on the farm has arrived. And vanished! Lol 

A terrifying yet awesomely wonderful process - from the details of baking in our new kitchen to tasting a last wee crumb smeared in icing - for me, who occasionally must 'cake', and who desires results! 

You may be surprised to hear it wasn't chocolate. I'm honestly baffled, but it was delicious, and the deciding factor was a pound of really expensive butter Jordan bought by mistake (!). Apparently I'm far too frugal (some would say cheep) to buy such an ivory delicacy, even by accident, but in a responsible manner I used a cup of it very wisely. I know I don't usually like butter in cakes, but it's possible (very likely) good butter could make a substantial difference, and there's oil too... Obviously. I just used a bit less quality butter than called for, while compensating with oil to keep the moisture in the crumb. Totally worth the effort and the butter in the long run. This is my current favourite yellow cake..! 

I do not begrudge the mistake!!!

This kitchen is a dream come true! I love it, love it, love it! 

Old mixed with the new. Logic and cupboards and drawers everywhere. 

Country theme - especially the sink. Soft neutral colours speaking a whisper of green. 

Handmade concrete countertops. Windows, light, the ceiling... 

It all looks great with my red mixer. 

Okay, I am struggling with my stove top a bit, truth be told, but I'm convinced I'll love the induction just as soon as I figure it out, and the caramel cooked on it was a success. The cake making went well. 

Working on a few things, but you'll see those soon...

Kitchen Heaven.

Caramellow-Yellow is it's name. 

Caramel, salted. Brazil nuts, toasted. Marshmallow icing, unfortunately a tad runny. 

Between layers of yellow buttermilk cake. With chocolate icing on the outside. 

Fine gold dust... My imperfect decorating. 

The second cake could be chocolate... 

*****

And now that I've waited so long to post, 

(we need wifi inside our home where it's warm and comfy, 

plus I need to deduce how to reduce the wastless eons I spend dawdling) 

there's actually been a second cake and it's banana! 

Apparently I liked the easy decorating technique I used on the first cake so much... 

I copied it. They could almost be the same cake, no? 

I've not been very satisfied with my recent cooking, therefore must revel in these layers.

Layers of cake and what methods actually work for me.

(Just because you put it in a slow cooker doesn't mean it will taste good. 

You also have to turn it on. Fancy that.)

It was just a wee cake, though.

Mmmm

I haven't been able to use the web-based function of this programme for a week,

or so now. (Another of my many excuses for not posting)

So links are pasted here:

Banana Cake

http://sweetapolita.com/2016/02/banana-graham-smores-cake-supreme/

Yellow Cake

ie Best Ever Buttermilk Cake

http://sweetapolita.com/2016/01/buttermilk-birthday-cake-with-malted-chocolate-frosting/

And yes I substituted 1/4 cup oil for 1/4 cup butter,

Because,

Why? 

Guess I'm just a canola girl. Yellow is happy!

Speaking of canola oil, this is cool. Read it:

https://www.highwoodcrossing.com/about-highwood-crossing/

These people are doing something worth talking about! 

I covet being a farmer, of something. 

Jordan's Irish Sweater

Jordan told me he wanted a sweater. That was last Christmas. He gave me those pleading, begging eyes that said, "I will be very, very disappointed and sad if you don't. You have a whole year! What could be so hard about that? " 

Of course I was happy to oblige. He was forgetting he'd have to get his photo taken in it. Lol. We chose a suitable pattern and I used the cone (2/3rds) of green tweed Irish wool I had bought in Donegal to make my dad a sweater or a vest. So it also has an intrinsic meaning literally knit right in. 

The pattern is called Hugo, from Brooklyn Tweed, by Véronik Avery. I purchased it on-line and I recommend their website for patterns - patterns that make garments recipients will actually wear because they're classic, but modern. Interesting cast on for the hems and cuffs (I enjoy details like this) and true to size so far as I can tell... There are instructions for men with wider shoulders, which I followed, and felt worked, however you can judge that for yourselves. 

I knit the parts: front, back, sleeves during my time in Northern Ireland over the past summer and managed to assemble them into a sweater, knit the collar, sew on the buttons and block it before Christmas morning. Sure I had a lot on the go, but I was definitely suffering from what I presume many other knitters are also plaged. That is, I know better than to think, but inevitably overlook and fall into the trap of believing I'm just about finished, when in fact, I'm not, as I still need to sew up, knit collars and edgings, finish the ends and attach notions. 

The wonderful thing is that after all the knitting and finishing, it actually fits! What do you think? 

String of Days

Yes, an unexpected string of days off in my schedule. 

Time to catch up on things, including sleep and really getting better from being sick. 

How nice. And to indulge in things Farm. Or things Rabbitry.

Here are a few endeavours:

Tractor cushion... Looks like a jean skirt but was made from a pair of jeans. Honestly. 

Sewing is not like knitting. It's difficult!

Metal seats are cold or hot. So, cushion required. 

The Rabbitry: 

The floor had a few vermin holes which I suspect could allow sneaking predators inside, 

so they needed to be filled, as did low spots. 

The temperatures here aren't kindly to concrete, and who knows? 

The chicken coop is likely more than half a century old! 

Original floor, with a few repairs, plus our new wet parts.

Pouring a thin layer of concrete on top of an old layer isn't ideal, 

especially in cold weather but with the holes to be filled and the nature of the undulations 

and the fact it's not a high traffic, load bearing area, (rabbit cages will hang from the ceiling) 

it seems a decent choice based on the exorbitant cost of Sand-Crete. 

Without proper delineation I was worried both about tightly closing the doors and floor clearance, 

so I made and added a threshold on our inside door and a lower part on the outer door. 

I'm not going to call the job levelling - more smoothing - 

increasing in valleys and an overall height gain. 

Jordan kindly mixed ALL the concrete for me, by hand. What a love. 

Open and...

... tightly closed. 

I am the slowest carpenter. Ever! Lol. An all day carpenter. 

If doing this again I'd have filled the holes first, then done the expanse all at once. Seaming isn't really effective without the stress-crack tools. Speaking of tools, I probably could have gone out and bought a few, but because this isn't meant to be expensive, I only used a grouting trowel I already owned. That considered, it's not a bad job. Still, I should have organized to do it all at once.

I'll seal the floor and hopefully it'll be quite clean and washable and the seams, well seamless.

 Alas, nothing happens overnight! 

*****

My bathroom, though lacking a shower 

(we got a shower attachment though, and that is much better) 

and requiring hair washing to be done upside down - good thing I'm flexible - 

is an old fashioned and lovely place. 

I'll expand on that shortly. For now I'm back to my orange and gold toes. 

Oh how I love that tilework! Hoping to get some artwork from the same time period. 

Art Deco and cats and bubbles? Yes. Yes, please. 

On the cooking front, I was quite focused on my new cast iron skillet. 

I had some trouble initially even though it was meant to be pre-seasoned. 

That's not something you should believe, because it's just not true. 

So after a few irritating experiences, I started over and 

seasoned on the stove top twice and then once again in the oven. 

It seemed effective and was then proven so when I made tortillas:

They were a sort of enchilada casserole when they were eaten. They were delicious! 

To the point we've now probably become store-bought tortilla snobs. 

We, as in us and Eric. It was a sort of room mate reunion. Not like FRIENDS per say, 

but if we win the Powerball lottery we might be in the same financial category.

Check out the recipe and tutorial from Pioneer Woman here. 

I'm sure you don't need a cast iron skillet, but I'm sure you need these tortillas. 

What ARE you waiting for? Oh and I didn't have lard on hand, so I used butter. 

Seems that was fine. So you definitely have no excuses. 

But next time I'll be more prepared. 

I made bread, but that is not unusual, but felt we were due for cinnamon buns. 

The key is cream cheese icing. 

I used a regular white dough recipe, about 1/2 a cup of butter melted with a cup of 

brown sugar and cinnamon to taste. I like cinnamon! And nutmeg is tasty, too.

And add raisins if you like that extra moisture. I certainly do! 

Bake your rolls in a parchment lined pan or dish, 

because this makes lifting them out a cinch and cleaning is easier. 

Also if you have use a metal pan like I do, they won't get a metallic taste from cooling in the pan. 

Then make Sweetaploita's cream cheese icing. If you want to eat the picture below, that is. 

Yah baby, yah. Mmmmmm

I finally cleaned up from Christmas. That left the house kind of bare... We will have to work on that. For now the living room is on safari: yellows, browns, charcoal, cream, orange and red.

The charcoal is a good addition to those colours. Gives an anchor. And feeling. 

We will acquire more bits and pieces over time as collecting is fun, 

and here is a wee sentiment from Northern Ireland. A lovely little painting from my friend Kim. 

I made up the frame from some reclaimed wood from a big pile of rubbish. 

(Rubbish is great!) Speaking of rubbish, if you are of the ilk that someone's trash might be someone else's treasure, you should listen to this song. One Man's Gold. 

Oh, and part of liking country music, is about liking the story in a song. 

Just in case you needed one more reason to love country music. 

Yee-ha! 

2016 Begins!

A whole new year for a whole lot of new projects! 

Happy 2016! 

Now that we have our farm we are very, very happy 

and looking forward to all the adventures this first year will bring us. 

We have lists within lists of all we hope to have the time and money to accomplish. 

The good thing is, we like lists. 

Jordan doesn't always like referring to lists though - he says it's kind of like cheating. 

I disagree. I guess he likes to see what he gets to. I like to arrive home with everything I need.

Our first farm project, involving animals, is our "Chicken Coop", which once was a chicken coop, but is currently a rustic sitting room, with wood burning stove. 

We like it a lot, but we'll add to its functions.

Addition one will be a Rabbitry. I'm very excited about keeping rabbits 

and I'm being somewhat obsessive apparently. 

Nevertheless Jordan's happy to help me with my Rabbitry, and for that I'm thankful. 

I'm sure it'll become a very nice warren. 

I've chosen to breed Champagne d'Argent rabbits specifically 

because they are beautiful, well tempered, meat rabbits. 

When they are born they're all black. 

Around six weeks old they begin to turn silvery on their bodies. 

I'll get my trio in early May - two does and one buck. 

For now we are preparing their home and thinking of French names...

(So cute!!! I really cannot wait!) 

And of course we want to hatch chicks. Because chicks become chickens, and chickens lay eggs, and what is more appropriate for a wee farm than the ubiquitous chicken coop? 

We would like to hatch them, but we might just buy them. 

We will see about these feather babies in the Spring. 

In the meantime, we are eating well. 

Our new cast iron skillet just made us some heart shaped French toast. 

It was really good topped with grapefruit maple yogurt!

Also I made some mascarpone and used it two ways so far. 

Below in mini quiches:

And on top of a pizza with a pear and onion sauce. 

There are no photos. 

We ate it all up. 

And burnt our tongues we ate it so fast! 

I guess I'm due for a cake. 

And other cheeses. 

And to show off all the awesome things I got for Christmas! 

While it's cold I'm dreaming of growing a garden. We (I) will have quite a chore salvaging and reclaiming the area, but it did at one time grow enough potatoes for a whole winter. 

I'd like to vary my choices of vegetables, generally within the zone's most likely candidates, 

but it's good to know the land has been accommodating.

As I personalize our home, I'll share our rooms and house. 

I'll be starting with our bathroom upstairs. Or maybe some of the simpler rooms. 

It's wonderful in the first place, but like the predecessors, 

will get a tad of my elfin dust, and become just perfect for us. 

(Except this home is better than all the rest by a landslide) 

Inside projects are good for this time of year! 

It's a shame I didn't yet blog when my Dad and I did the renovation on the condo in Richmond.

It really warrented those 'before and after' pictures. 

That was a time before phone cameras. 

Or at least before I had one.

Here is the one and only remaining photo.

That bathroom was truly an oasis. I loved it!!!

I also take fewer photos in the cold it seems, for the sake of my fingers avoiding frostbite. 

We are still feeling so amazed by the fact we live in such a beautiful place, 

both home and property. 

We do need to get our internet sorted out. 

It's so convenient how it helps me to communicate, research and plan! 

For now it comes to our little house, but not our main house and it's cold in there because who wants to pay for heat in two houses? Not me. So I've been writing to you in my parka! 

Time to go in for a latte. How did I ever get out of the frothed milk habit? Delicious and warm! 

A Dream Come True

Well, well it's been busy back in Canada. Packing up and moving twice, plus the selling and buying property processes have been hurdles. As well as interim moving-limbos. 

Oh! I do not like the moving-limbo!

But what is that? A contradiction? Or an oxymoron? 

Neither. Let me explain... 

Not moving as the physically transitive verb, but as in changing locations. 

It's that state of being once you've sold the home you live in, and are buying a new one. 

Particularly, when you've moved out, but not yet in. 

Hovering in homelessness. 

Where your brain goes mushy like peas. It might be where the Doldrums are. 

I would almost suggest not trying it yourself. But! 

Not only is it all over now, but occasionally by serendipity, or more frequently, through effort and time, dreams do come true. Ours is a bit conglomerate. And 100% a happy ending. 

We officially live in the country, on a charming wee acreage. It's been known as "Blue Moon Farm" for the past 19 years by the lovely Paula and Darcy, who kept horses and remodelled the 100+ year old farmhouse into the absolutely delightful character home it is now. 

Eventually it will be renamed something more specifically representative of us. 

Or we will just keep the name. Meanwhile, suggestions are welcome. 

Also we were not actually homeless, but welcome guests in Jordan's old Huntington Hills neighbourhood. He has wonderful parents. I wasn't ignoring posting these past couple months... It's just that 34 days of ups and downs all on my own and pre-planning and the subsequent sleepless nights weren't exactly the type of inspiring post material I like to write about, nor does it provide much time for caking and creating, but now that we have a reason to celebrate, I'm sharing!

Completely, entirely and sooooo totally worth it!

Can you tell why we are so excited?! 

Okay, so 'excited' is the most mild choice of words for our incandescent exhilaration...

This has been our dream since we started out together. 

(Space, seclusion, beauty, animals (to come)... More self sustenance.)

December is typically cold and snowy, 

And a blistery -18 C evening made it a tad awkward while moving furniture and boxes.

But to start out here - 

to begin in this Red House! 

at Christmas Time! 

(I'm yelling in case you can't tell) 

makes for a truly merry personal utopia.

I am, after all, an Elfin-Creature! 

In a crazy fury of four and half days I unpacked, decorated for Christmas, and hosted us, plus ten for Christmas dinner. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!