A Merry Christmas to Everyone!

I want to take this time to wish everyone a most happy and blessed Christmas!  Tomorrow and the next day will be filled with busyness, family, food, prayer, and traditions.   The birthday of Our Lord is such a wonderful time!  Whatever your usual festivities and traditions are, I urge you to reflect on the real reason for the season - the birth of The Savior.  He gave us all a most precious gift - the gift of salvation.  Let us all accept this gift from God, and let Jesus into our lives and hearts as our personal Savior.  While the rest of the world would have us all believe that Christmas is about Santa, and elves, and gift giving and shopping and decorating, we must all realize that Jesus is the reason for Christmas!  And yet, now in today's world, Jesus is removed from all mention of Christmas.   The world has tried to make Christmas just a "winter holiday".  How sad.

Today I am busy preparing some traditional foods for our Christmas dinner, and bringing some last minute food gifts to neighbors.  Here I am pictured in my kitchen this morning in my newly sewn apron preparing some 7-grain bread.   Later today I will make a big batch of potato and cheese filled pierogies.  A couple days ago I made some very good lefsa and we have been enjoying that for meals.

A very Merry Christmas to you all, and may the coming year be your 'best ever'!

Christmas Village

Several years ago, a neighbor graciously gave me a Christmas Village set that she bought at an auction.  It fits perfectly in my big bay window.  This year I added two houses, some action figures, and extra home lights.    Here is a view of it at night:

Another night view

Here are some close ups of some of the buildings:

The mailman was a gift from Harold this year.

Aren't these little raccoons adorable?  They are raiding the trash cans by the bakery. Harold gave me this addition also this year. 

The building on the right is one of the ones I added this year.  I found it for 50 cents at a rummage sale.

The building on the far left is another new addition.

Last year my grandson Jeffrey had such a good time looking at the buildings in the village.  He would sit and ponder each building, and we played a game making up stories about what each building was about.   I hope to add a few more figures each year.  I only have room on the window sill for one more building, maybe two, if I crowd things together.   It sure does brighten up the living room!

Mid December Already!

It's been a while since I posted anything on here - the reason being that I have been fighting a bad case of sinusitis.  What energy I did have was needed for commitments I made and needed to keep.  Several times this month I played my accordion at various nursing homes and assisted living centers, doing my 'Christmas Hat Routine'.  I play all the fun holiday music and Christmas songs, and for each song I wear a different hat.   Some hats are funny, some match the song, and some hats are just nice.  I have Santa hats, elf hats, snow hats, a reindeer hat, a snowman hat, a Mrs Claus hat, a chipmunk hat, various kid's hats, etc.   The residents always get a laugh out of my program, which is the whole point, to get them feeling good!  For the song Silver Bells, I pass out many sets of bells to volunteers, and get folks involved in the program.   It takes a lot of effort to bring along an accordion, music stand, music, decorations, and a box of about 25 hats.   But I do enjoy playing, and this program is very popular and I am asked to perform at several places each year.   This month I had 5 requests for this show!  It cheers me up, too, to play for people and I truly enjoy it.  Folks do laugh at the crazy hats I wear, but I don't mind being a comedian for an hour or so - it's great to know that I can bring a little brightness and laughter to the residents.

The weather sure has been great lately!  It's been so warm that we hardly feel like it's winter.   However, we did wake up to this today:

Looking out my front window - 5 deer searching for something to eat

We only got about 2 or 3 inches of snow, but it will sure help to make it "look a lot like Christmas".   Hard to believe that it's only 9 days until Christmas. 

I'm feeling better now and getting some holiday baking in, mailing packages (hopefully not too late!), and enjoying the beauty of winter scenery.   I might even get some cards written out and sent.

Idea for a Small Gift

A couple years ago I put this recipe here on my blog, but I am repeating it here because this is my favorite Christmas cookie recipe .  These little shortbread cookies are buttery and tasty and make a nice small gift for someone who has "everything" or a nice gift for when you visit someone and you need to take 'just a little something'.  You can pile a bunch of these cookies in a large mug or fancy cup (thrift stores sell mugs and cups for practically nothing), along with a couple packets of tea or hot chocolate or cider mix, and they make a good gift for an elderly relative or friend.   Wrap it up in colorful Saran Wrap (this time of year, stores carry Saran Wrap in red and green and blue), then go visiting!  There are lots of folks who would love a visit at this time of year.  We should all do more visiting - plenty of lonely people out there.

Little kids (of all ages!) love these cookies, too.  Take some on a long car trip and keep the little ones occupied for at least a little while.    These cookies are also a good snack for when you play cards or board games.  And they are easy and fun to make. 

 

 

 ELF BITES

A shortbread cookie that is not too sweet

1/2 c. (1 stick) of butter - use ONLY butter

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 tsp. almond extract

1 1/4 c. flour 

1/4 tsp salt

4 tsp. multi-colored nonpareils

Cream the butter, sugar, salt and almond extract.   Add the flour.  (You might just use your hands at this point).   Work in the nonpareils into the dough with your hands.  Line an 8 inch square pan with wax paper, and pat the dough into the pan and refrigerate until firm.  (usually a couple hours)  Lift out the dough using the wax paper and with a sharp knife on a board, cut into 1/2 slices and then into 1/2 inch squares.  Place on an un-greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 -17 min in a 325 oven, until the bottoms just begin to look a little brown.   Don't overbake these.   Let them sit on the cookie sheet until they are cool enough to put into whatever container you wish. 

Pat the dough into a wax paper lined 8 in square pan.

The little Elf Bites ready for baking

 

A cup of tasty little Elf Bites!

Getting Ready for Winter

My computer is back and running thanks to my son Kelly the computer expert!  It is faster and better than ever, too!  Harold and I missed our computer during the last 3 weeks and had to use a little Android tablet instead.  Tablets are too small for my poor eyesight.  Anyway,  I am back now on here and ready to write more articles and send pictures!
     This month we have been getting ready for winter - covering tractors, cleaning the greenhouse, putting away things in the yard, emptying planters, and cutting lots of wood.  Harold has been especially busy with wood cutting and splitting, like every other guy in the neighborhood.  Here he is standing next to what we have so far, a pile about 6 ft high, 16 ft wide and 16 ft deep.   This is what we heat our house with, free wood from our land.    And - this pile is only HALF of what we need! 

Harold standing by our wood pile with kitten Popeye on his shoulder

Popeye the kitten is our favorite cat.   He is the runt of the bunch, but a real go-getter and tries his best to keep up with everyone else.   He is called Popeye because when he was just about 3 or 4 weeks old his eyes would mat shut every few hours and I was constantly applying warm water to them to open them up.   One eye would especially stick shut, hence the name Popeye. 

Almost camouflaged by the logs, Popeye is 12 weeks old and loves exploring the woodpile. 

The woodpile is a great draw for all the cats, probably because mice like to hide in there.   Pictured is Whitey and Climber, and two other older kittens with their heads in the wood trying to find mice.   All our cats have thick fur right now in prep for the cold winter.  The longer haired cats almost look like lynxes.   Our herd of mouse hunting farm cats is 15 this winter.   These 15 cats patrol the farm pretty good and don't let much go by them.

We cleaned out the greenhouse, and I planted garlic in there.   Garlic has to winter over and set roots, then it grows in the spring and is harvested in July.   I planted several types of garlic to sell at market, and covered the area with straw.   On a sunny day it can get up to 55 or more  in the greenhouse even on a cold day.   We were able to keep romaine lettuce growing until Nov 19, when I harvested the last 2 heads for salads.    That date is well past the usual garden dates for this area!   I am already planning next year's growing season.

My garlic patch covered for the winter.   Hopefully there won't be too many mice living in this.  I may have to put a cat in the greenhouse for a day!  What a mess that might be with straw tracked all over!

It'll Be A While

Just to let you all know that my computer broke last week.  The c drive crashed.  My son is fixing it for me and I will pick it up at Thanksgiving when I see him.  Meanwhile I am stuck using this horrible little tablet computer.    Everything is just too tiny on this thing!  I am not a great lover of technology, but I do enjoy my regular computer and my camera!

All is well here at HoneyBFarm and the bees are already out in California.  We put new good plastic on the sides of the greenhouse in prep for winter.  I still have romaine lettuce and spinach and some petunias growing in there!  We shall see how long I can grow crops in there.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, see you when I get my real computer back!

Practice Run

Today we woke up to this:

First snow of the season!

Another view:

I think the Lord is getting us used to winter, but taking it easy on us this time!  Now we can hone up on our winter driving skills.   This snow isn't supposed to last, though.  By Sunday it will be 65 again.   Maybe NEXT snow fall will be the start of winter!  While others are looking at the beautiful fall colors, we are long past that and looking at bare sticks again until next May.

Beet, Beet, Sugar Beet.......

For the past couple weeks many farmers around here have been harvesting sugar beets.  Harold usually drives a beet hauling truck in the fields and to the beet piler for Skaurud Grain Farms.  I ride with Harold once a year for part of his 12 hour shift.  The beet harvest is a very interesting thing to see!  It always amazes me that those ugly sugar beets (yes, they are truly an ugly vegetable) are processed into the table sugar we all know and love.  American Crystal Sugar Co in Moorhead Minnesota processes beets, and there are many beet pilers in the area.   Here are photos I took today riding with Harold.
This is a sugar beet:

An ugly vegetable indeed is the lowly sugar beet.

The inside of the sugar beet.  It is a little sweet tasting if you bite off a small piece.

A typical sugar beet field.

The beets are lifted out of the ground with a special machine that digs the beets out of the ground and puts the beets onto a small conveyor onto a truck.  The truck is driven right alongside the lifter until it is full, then the truck full of beets is taken to the beet piler somewhere.  Today the fields were quite muddy, as we got a lot of rain the other day.  So most of the trucks were pulled in the fields with a special puller/tractor that has tracs instead of wheels.

Looking out the back window of the truck at the beet lifter.

A closer view of the beet lifter

Our truck was pulled in the field by the puller/tractor.

A view of another truck in the field being pulled alongside the lifter.

Beets from the lifter going into a truck.  Our truck developed engine trouble, and we had to wait for a field repairman to pull us out.

Once the truck is full of beets (about 60,000 lbs worth), it is driven to the piler.   The truck bed is lifted up and the beets fall onto a conveyor.

Beets being unloaded at the piler.

The beets then go onto another conveyor and are shot out onto a huge pile.   The beets must be harvested and stored at a certain temperature.    There are about a dozen piler stations around here, and they all have huge piles of beets from all the area farmers.   These piles of beets are loaded onto smaller trucks and driven to American Crystal Sugar Co as needed.   Most beets are gone by next spring when the weather gets warm.  

After a load of beets is taken to the piler, the truck driver must unload the tare before getting another load.  A special place at the edge of a field is designated for tare piles.   This tare is a mixture of mud/dirt and crushed beets and rocks.

Going to get another load of beets in the field.   It's a bumpy ride!  There are special beet topper tractors that cut the foliage of the beets, so it is easier to lift the beets out of the ground.   A typical beet harvest needs people to cut and top beets, drive in the fields, drive the lifters, drive the pullers, man the pilers, man the weigh stations, test the beets, repair trucks and equipment, office workers for the contracts and paperwork, and the farm women to keep everyone fed!

There are about 3000 farmers who provide beets for American Crystal sugar, so the beet season is really important around here.   The final result of all the harvest is this:

The end result of sugar beet harvesting!  Check out that cute Dutch-themed sugar bowl!

Fruit Flies No More

You have probably seen or heard of how to get rid of fruit flies in the kitchen, but in case you haven't, here is a foolproof way!  Get a small bowl (like a cereal or dessert bowl), and put into it a few tablespoons of red wine vinegar.   Drop one or two drops of Dawn dish soap on top and swirl around.   Cover with plastic wrap, tightly, and poke some holes in it with a fork or screwdriver.   That's it.  Place where the fruit flies are.  Or where they used to be.  This time of year with tomatoes and apples and melons and pears in the kitchen, they seem to abound.  Here is a fruit fly trap I have on my counter.   After a day of working with tomatoes, it seemed like they were everywhere - but no more!   I used to use apple cider vinegar (and it works good), but I discovered that red wine vinegar works better.

"There Shall Be Showers of Blessing"

Just like the lyrics in the old hymn "There Shall Be Showers of Blessing", we have been more than showered with garden blessings this year!  Today we harvested the rest of the pumpkins and winter squash.   We have already picked and sold and given away at least 25 winter squash and pumpkins, and this is what is left.   Tomorrow is the last market day, and then I will use/give away/store what is remaining.   Every year I always worry that my garden won't be good, but I should have more faith!  The Lord always provides us with more than we could ever hope for.

Load number 1 of pumpkins and squash.

Load number 2 of the harvest.

The whole load today!

Thumb Meets Blade

I was in the process of making kraut today, and shortly after I started I somehow managed to cut my thumb badly on the sharp blades of the kraut cutter!  Oh my did it bleed!  I tried not to panic.  Harold was gone to Fargo for the day, my neighbor who is a nurse was not home, Harold took the car to Fargo anyway, and other neighbors weren't home either.   I thought about trying to drive the big pick-up to the doc, but I needed both hands to apply pressure, and didn't think I could drive that way.    After what seemed like an eternity, and blood all over the place (like a scene from the movie Psycho), I managed to wrap it up in gauze and tape with my good hand.  One of my neighbors called back and then came over to help me re-bandage the thumb.   We didn't think it needed stitches ( it was a semicircular cut about 3/4 inch long and 1/4 inch deep, but the skin was not completely cut off), and the bleeding was down to a minimum.   Harold came home later in the day and helped me finish the kraut and re-bandage my thumb.   I guess I won't be working with tomatoes or doing any canning for several days!  Hopefully it won't take too long to heal - I have work to do! And you know, I was SO careful with the kraut cutter, but a piece of the cabbage slipped off and I lost my grip just as I was sliding the 1/2 head across the blades.   Sigh.............well, I will certainly remember this year's sauerkraut making!!

Honey B Farm As of Today......

It's been a while since I posted anything on here.  Sixteen days to be exact.   We've been so busy!  This time of year is especially crowded with things to work on.  So far I have canned up the following:  peaches, pears, chokecherry jelly, raspberry cherry jelly, chokecherry syrup, dill pickles, bread and butter pickles, red pepper relish, cuke relish, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, potatoes, applesauce, plain tomatoes, seasoned tomatoes (with peppers, onions and celery), and green beans.  I've also put cabbage, corn, carrots, peas and turnips in the freezer, and dried 14 quart bags of apples, and jars of basil, oregano and parsley.   We also harvested all the dry beans and they are drying in trays in the bay window and sunshine.  I still need to make more spaghetti sauce, and can up some tomato juice, and dry more herbs.   Today I am slicing up winter cabbage to put in the crock for sauerkraut:

Eight heads of Danish Ballhead cabbage ready to go into the crock for kraut.   You need a firm, white winter cabbage for successful sauerkraut making.   The kraut cutter is a vintage one I got at an antique store.

The fall colors are really pretty up here now, but they won't last long.  We are already past peak colors, and it's all downhill from here.

A gorgeous maple.

What the yard looks like this morning.

On the windy side of the place, the trees are already past peak.

I took a walk around the yard and took some photos just to show how things are as of today.  Let me bore you with a few show and tell pictures!

We have already had some frosty mornings, so it's time to get the pumpkins in.  I grow Winter Luxury pumpkins, which are excellent for pies.   They are small pumpkins, about 4 or 5 lbs each, with wonderful sweet flesh for the best pies ever!

Uh-oh.....time to get the butternut squash in because the deer are eating them!   This one is already half eaten by those pesty critters!

All my beautiful petunias are dead - time to snip off the seed pods and save the seed for next year. 

The beeyard is quiet now.  Only a little Canadian thistle, and sweet and red clover for them to feed on now.   We harvested close to 500 lbs of excellent light colored honey this year!

I still have a ton of tomatoes in the garden - plenty will probably just go to waste.  Want to come and pick some?

Remember the photo of my new lettuce in the last post?  It's all grown and ready now and we will be eating salads all week long!   A crop of new spinach is next to it. 

Looks like fall on the back porch.  Plenty of great winter squash to eat. 

All these tomatoes will be made into spaghetti sauce tomorrow!

This summer we did manage to paint the porch siding and get the porch ceiling on, and some trim.  We still need to get soffit material on.

All of our workhorse machinery!  My lawn mower (which is pretty good size) next to our brush hog mower, next to the big tractor loader.   We're prepared for just about every job!

And now for some "cute"...............

Un-named white kitten on a mission for some food, since all the food trays are empty!

FlufferDuff with her new little grey kitten and another older kitten.   Poor Fluffer broke her nose and upper jaw tangling with a coyote this summer.   But she is OK now, just a little off center in the face!

Another kitten and one of our Mama cats (not her kitten, though)

What's this???  "Climber" the kitten took a selfie???  Now, how did he do that?

And that's pretty much the way it is out here in the quiet countryside.  We're all busy getting ready for winter.  Harold is cutting wood, I'm still working with produce and food, and we are watching the leaves go fast off the trees.    Pretty soon the bees will go to California for the winter and we'll be cleaning up the yard and garden and getting things tilled up.  I'm anxious to see how long I can continue to grow things in the greenhouse - maybe another month or a few more weeks?