~Baby, it's cold outside!!!

DARN, it's cold out this morning. When we left the barn last night, every animal we had was tucked in snug as a bug. This morning every one of them was covered in frost. My neighbor Kelly's thermometer registered -35 degrees. These are the coldest temps we've had in years.


All in all, everything is fine despite the cold. The water lines were not frozen in the house or the barn, tubs were thawed thanks to tub heaters and all the animals were fine. Fortunately handmilking is like riding a bicycle - once you learn you, you don't forget. The vacuum pump that provides the suction for the milking machine wouldn't work. The cold was just too much for it. We brought it in and set it by the woodstove. It should work fine for night chores. If not, we will get buy. If that's the worse we deal with in this kind of weather, I'm grateful.


We are supposed to get up to zero today - zero actually feels balmy :) One more night of really low temps and then things should moderate somewhat. I remember growing up when winter temps were like this for weeks at a time and we had feet and feet of snow. My brother and I used to climb the big pine trees near our home in NH and jump off the big branches into the deep snow for the fun of it. We get a good amount of snow here but nothing like it used to be.

Hopefully these sub zero temperatures will kill off bugs and sickness and garden pests before spring arrives and spring will come, I know it will, won't it? The gorgeous flowers posted

today at Northview Diary are definately a sign of hope :)

~Stay warm and safe~

New isn't always better ~

I remember not so long ago how very excited I was when my dream of having a dairy cow was becoming a reality. One more step up the ladder for my family toward self sufficiency and plain good, wholesome nutrition. Whole milk, ice cream, fresh sweet cream butter, butter milk biscuits, etc. We enjoy all of these things, some on a daily basis and I really do believe it is better for my family.
Because of the size of the farm and the fact that I did most of the farm work alone until Tom returned home, DH was pretty insistant that I have a milking machine. I put him off for a year and hand milked twice a day. It was my favorite part of my chore time but I knew milking more than one cow by hand everyday would take it's toll on my hands over time.

We eventually found a used/reconditioned surge bucket milker with a vacuum pump. Used was all we could afford as a new one cost around $1500.00. The used one came from a company in Wisconsin that reconditions dairy items. It has a guarantee and it has worked like a charm since we bought it. I haul it back and forth to the barn in my wheelbarrow with a hot water bath for the cow and wash it up in my kitchen sink. I'm not complaining but you make sacrifices for everything :) All of it's components sit on my kitchen island, clean and ready to be used again.

Next we decided that we needed a butter churn. I looked on ebay and craigslist and couldn't seem to find a used one that wasn't an antique. I finally found a great little hand churn at Lehmans's non electric store. Not cheap but a great little churn. DH also purchased me a larger electric churn for when I have large amounts of cream. I tend to use the smaller one and make smaller batches of butter more often. Both were great purchases. Neither of these were absolutely necessary. I've taught little kids and adults alike to make butter by passing around and shaking cream in a quart canning jar to the hokey pokey! It does work and it's great exercise but I didn't think I had time to do that 2 or 3 times per week :)

The next most logical purchase seemed to be a cream separator. I spent a couple of months researching this machine and really thought I had made the best choice. Wrong........these babies are not cheap. I couldn't find one used. I didn't think I wanted a used one anyway as the inside and outside components are made of plastic except for a series of discs that spin are made of metal and the bowl on the top. I have spent hours on the phone and computer with this company trying to make this unit perform as they said it would. It does not. They have even gone so far as to tell me my milk is too cold so I've rewarmed the milk to 101 degrees which is the temp it comes from the cow and it still does not work properly. This new fangled rig just doesn't cut it!

Granted, it may just be me. Perhaps I just don't have the knack for using this machine but I have found I get more cream off my milk by skimming my 2 quart jars after it has sat in the fridge a few hours with a small ladle than I do by separating 10 quarts of milk with the separator. Hence, my title that new isn't always better in this case.

Today was butter day - that's what prompted this post. I've been feeling ridiculous that I can't make that separator perform properly but I've given up and enjoying my ladle and I don't miss the hum and the massive clean up of that machine at all!

For those of you that milk, how do you separate your cream?

~Wordless Wednesday ~

~Starting the day...........

Another frosty start to the day. Sub zero temps are here to stay for awhile. The sky seemed at war - reds, yellows, pinks and blues. A sign of weather to come. They are predicting -20 by friday morning. Needless to say, we hustled through chores and everyone was grateful for their grub.

Gus and Gert were waiting for breakfast with their usual eagerness. They are both getting a full bottle of warm milk and they waste no time in emptying it, letting you know they would really like more. They wear the cutest little milk mustache when they are finished. They both continue to put on weight and are thriving.

The sheep were all huddled around the feeder, happily munching their hay. They seem to have enough wool where they don't mind the cold.

This is Henry - he is one of our resident barn cats. He's the friendliest one of the bunch. He's been spending his nights in the barn, sleeping in the cows manger to stay warm but he takes his breakfast at my Mom's house. She will let him in and feed him where it's warm :)

Have a great day and stay warm!

~New moon, new camera

The new moon was gorgeous. I really wanted to photograph it while it was rising but that was during choretime and I couldn't take the time. So, this is what I ended up with using the "night" setting on the new camera. I could not shoot directly at the moon or I had a streak of what looked like lightening to the moon (below)

I have much to learn but I was so happy to get photos of the moon that really look like the moon :)

Have a great day!

Grocery store challenge...........

I like to think that we are slowly accomplishing our dream of becoming fairly self sufficient here. We raise a good supply of vegetables that we can, freeze and pickle. We raise pork, beef and lamb. We have chickens for eggs and a dairy cow for milk, butter and soft cheese. My freezers are always full and my pantry looks pretty stocked as well as vegetables in the cellar.

So could someone PLEASE tell me why my grocery bill is at least $125.00 weekly at our local Hannaford Supermarket?!!! Does anyone else deal with this dilemma? I am not a "spender" so to speak and do not spend on wasteful products. I buy what we cannot raise such as paper products, coffee, sugar, etc.

The one thing I do not do at this point is buy in bulk and hopefully next week that is going to change. I have recently found a local food coop and will be going to the store next week to see what it's all about. I talked with the women who runs it on thursday. They have spices, teas and most anything else you would need. They run regular monthly specials in the store and they have a catalog for things that you may need that aren't in the store. For example, last months special was cinnamon $4.00 lb!

I would love to hear what you all do to keep your grocery bill to a minumum or how to keep from going to the grocery store at all!

~ A Working winter day...........

It's snowing again this afternoon and the wind has picked up. A light, fluffy snow. This morning we hauled 11 ton of round bales for the cows and we were fortunate to have sunny weather and 35 degrees. That should hold those hayburners for a month or so :) It's such a sense of security seeing all that hay stacked up. There is plenty more where that came from. Before we know it we will have green grass again :)

The birds were busy at the feeders and also on the bird tree. We have an abundance of bluejays! They have been eating the home made baked ornaments and running all the little birds off. The woodpeckers pay them no mind and love the suet blocks and the peanuts. I just love watching the birds.

~Have a warm and comfy evening ~