About Our Blog

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Here we plan on recording thoughts, projects, farm additions and other note-worthy happenings.

If you would like to comment on our blog or just say "Hi" feel free to do so on our SHOUT-BOX to the left.  Just enter your name and a message, then click the 'submit' button.

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The Blog 

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December 31, 2007 - Happy New Year's Eve.

If you're going out tonight, please be safe.  Don't drive drunk.  And... if you're staying in to party... don't puke on the white carpet!

What are we doing?  Carol has to work  :^(, so... the kids and I are staying in.  Pizza and homemade root beer is a perfect start to the evening.

Have fun y'all.

December 30, 2007 - Bunnies for sale.

Carol requested I give a shout out to the bunny lovers/owners out there.  We have a few rabbits left for sale.

Our precious mini lop, Oreo, had her first litter with our crossbred buck, Midnight.  Some of these youngsters will have ears that "lop" or partially lop.

Our bunnies make great pets and they're only $5.00 each.  These 5 little ones have been handled at least daily making them very tame and cuddly. 

We do have black cross bunnies for sale as well.  We had 6, but have only 3 left.  The best we can tell, they are all does.  If you eat rabbit, these should make good 'roasters' when older.

We also work with area humane societies.  At this time, we do rabbit foster-care.  If you or somebody you know can no longer care for a rabbit, we will take them in.  Bunnies released into the wild will die - they do not know how to live in the wild.

Let us help you to help these bunnies! And if for some reason your new pet doesn't workout for your family, we'll take him/her back, no questions asked.  We do not return rabbits to the humane society.  Rabbits we receive from individuals are either adopted-out or kept by us to live out their lives with other rabbits.

December 29, 2007 - Homemade root beer update.

Well, we have had several bottles of root beer empty halfway out when opened, due to the explosion of carbonation.  This maybe due to the headspace being to much.  Before opening this last one, I measured the headspace at 1½".  I remember reading that too much space can cause too much carbonation, with the opposite if too little space is provided.  So... note to self, "fill root beer bottles to 1" of top."

I would also like to give local blog readers a chance to get some free books.  Since redoing our daughter's room, we discover just how many books she has.  She loves to read, but we think some of these books would benefit more individuals than just her.  Take a look at some of the books we have to give away here.  We will also be posting these books on craigslist and our local freecycle group.

December 28, 2007 - My Great Aunt Velma is truly great.

On the Dec. 23 blog, I mentioned that we went to the Kandiyohi County Historical Society Museum in Willmar, to look at my Great Aunt Velma's hat collection.  It was interesting to know how involved she is in the community and how much she cares about sharing with others.

Today, in the West-central Tribune, Velma was featured on the front page.  The article states that they interviewed her Dec. 6 at her home as she posed with her Swiss-made Elna sewing machine, purchased 37 years ago. She has been a longtime member of the Daughters of Isabella quilting group at the Church of St. Mary. The group is responsible for making some 3,000 quilts for charity in the last six years alone. We're proud to call her family.  She's an inspiration to us all.

click here to enlarge photo

To read the West Central Tribune article click here

Rich

December 27, 2007 - Having a ball.

We did a little farm maintenance today... not too much, but the llamas now have a fresh bed of straw and seem to appreciate the gesture of care. 

One of our goats (hopefully the only one expecting), looks as if she will be giving birth soon.  Her belly is ever increasing in size... as is her udder.  We're sensing that we will soon have a slight increase in the number of goats of our new herd.  If the weather holds out like it has been doing, the [soon to be arriving] newborns should do just fine.  We're not expecting any problems as all of our does have birthing experience.  I think we'll be running to the fleet-n-farm store soon so we can make her a special birthing pen.  Billy goats can sometimes be unpredictable... we don't want to take any chances.

Now the good news (no, I don't consider baby goats arriving in January good news), we think we have the pig's girlfriend dilemma taken care of.  Earlier this winter, we had a blue, 12" child's ball blow into our yard at our house in town... so we figured maybe we should give it to Wilbert. Back in the day, when I had a farrow-to-finish hog operation, I would often give them Wiffle™ Brand toys (usually footballs) to play with.  They seemed to enjoy these items back then... so why should Wilbert enjoy similar items now?

Once we threw the toy into his pen, it took only seconds before he was having a ball with it... bad pun intended  He nudged the ball a bit, then mounted it, nudged it a little more... then mounted it again.  This went on until we left him  We're thinking this is good news. We're thinking Wilbert HAS A GIRLFRIEND!!!  We're thinking... correction... I'm thinking - now he can leave my leg alone.  We'll find out tomorrow.

Rich

December 25, 2007 - A time for giving.

We exchanged gifts as is customary in our house on Christmas Day morn.  My sister's gift to us was a animal donation to a less fortunate family.  In our honor, she donated a llama, through Heifer International, with the hopes of a needy family becoming self-reliant.  The recipient family is also provided training in nutrition, how to earn income for health care, shelter and education for children.  The family also promises to "pass on the gift" by giving one or more of their animal's offspring to another family in need.

You can learn more about Heifer International at www.heifer.org.  Since 1944, they have helped more than 8.5 million families, in 125 countries, move closer to self-reliance for food and income.

After the gift exchange and taking time for a bite to eat, we went to the farm for a little winter fun.  First on the list was to start a fire.  After a few choice words for the lighter that wouldn't light... it finally did.  In no time we had a bon fire that could warm even the coldest of Grinches.

Soon, it was time to pursue the reason we came... the snowmobiling.  My sis Jean, being from San Diego, doesn't see much snow... or snow type activities.  She suggested sledding so we soon had two sleds tied behind the old Polaris.  Off we went, with my sister and daughter in tow.  Through the woods and into the clearing I soon turned sharp and hit the throttle, sending the two sliding around sideways until they went head-over-teakettle.  Once back onboard, we continued the fun around the homestead, past the drive and into the the CRP land.  Literally, blazing a trail through 3' pasture grass... the two sleds following the same path the snowmobile.  We explored the ridge south of the creek and back again.  Then Carol took her turn after Madison re-bundled herself. 

Fun was had, regardless of the spills, tumbles and face-plants into the snow.  We even tried snowboarding behind the snowmobile, wishing Tiff (Jean & my sister in WA) was here to show us a few pointers.  Madison and I thought we'd try it and received heart-warming kudos from the others... it seems we surprise not only ourselves.  We only fell a dozen times or so.

As far as the animals go, it seems our new pot-bellied pig has taken a shining to my leg... if you know what I mean.  I go into his pen and he goes after me.  Dare I say, I have never felt dirtier or more violated.  ROFL!  Other than that, he's a good little pig.

Rich

December 24, 2007 - Happy Christmas Eve morning.

Carol was up early, baking away.  By mid-morning, she had already made cinnamon rolls and two loaves of apple bread.  Not only that, but she had been busy sewing an apron for her maternal Grandma.  It was a pattern that still has the handwriting of Carol's Great-Grandmother.  It is a Christmas project that she is quite proud to work on.  We all had a pretty good laugh when she duped Austin into modeling it for size.  Apron modeling is not something our #1 son should pursue.  lol

My sister and daughter were busy working on another puzzle as they were eating their rolls, when sister Amber called yet again.  I asked about the goats... they're still in a pen they built.  The reason Amber called was to get some details on a cookie/candy recipe she got from Carol... I think they got things straightened out.

Jean mentioned that it wouldn't be Christmas Eve morning without calling our other sister Tiff and her little guy, Ki.  It sounds as though they are having fun with many visits from friends and family.

2:45 pm
We just finished making rosettes.  I remember my Grandma Radtke making them on the stove in a frying-pan over a gas-flame stove.  Is that still safe to do? But Grandma never liked doing it.  I think her sister Marie liked making that sort of thing more than she did. 

We always went to Marie's farm for a small family Christmas thing with the Larson's (Marie's only daughter and her family).  Us kids had so much fun and the men would be seated at the kitchen table playing Penny Annie for hours... a penny a point, but nobody really kept score.  At Marie's house, the old kitchen was the warmest place in the house.  She had an old space heater in the living room and an even older wood stove in the kitchen, but I think the real warmth came from the thunderous laughter of Daryl and my Grandpa complaining and bragging about their cards, as one out-scored the other during the latest round of cards.

I regress...
We had a little (a bottle) of Apple Pie Wine that we bought from the Olde Country Winery in Lake Lillian yesterday, a few rosettes and some of Carol's delicious apple bread for lunch... then my sister made us a cheese sandwich and we figured we can last until we have our traditional family spaghetti dinner.  Then off to church for Madison's Christmas program, where she will be playing her Christmas piano solo.

We'll come home for a few minutes, then off to our friend's farm, northwest of Kerkhoven, for the Christmas party they were gracious enough to host for friends and family.  It should be a fun evening.

In the meantime, Carol started some sort of Streusel Rhubarb Bread.  It sure smells good.

Rich

December 23, 2007 - Goats will be goats, regardless where they are.

Bright and early, I get a call from my little sister Amber.  Some time ago, she sort of made fun of me when Carol and I were having "problems" with keeping our goats corralled.  It now seems the shoe is on the other foot now.  Her and her husband bought two baby pigmy goats the day before... and the next morning, one of goats had somehow gotten out of the horse trailer they were housed in temporarily.  I think she was lucky she had dogs to help her catch it.

December 22, 2007 - Tis' the season.

Today we did a few fun things. 

After a few hours of lounging around in our pajamas and working on the puzzle that was started the night before (puzzles are what my family likes to do during the Christmas Season), we decide we would visit Irv Moen at Olde Country Winery & Vineyards. He's quite the character and always has a good story or two to tell as well as some winemaking advice (when asked).  We bought a couple of bottles of wine from him and I picked-up a few winemaking supplies from his store, as my 5 gallon batch of plum wine took what was left of my tannin.

When we arrived home, we found an email from my little sister Amber, who lives in Arkansas.  It seems she and her hubby bought a couple of pigmy goat kids with nannies at the local sale's barn... then sold the nannies on the spot to the folks that were bidding against them.  When the wheeling and dealing dust settled, the little goats they wanted only cost them $25 each.  Good deal.

I quick ran out to the farm to check on the new pig (read below).  It seems the way we arranged his pen wasn't good enough.  If we had known that our Chinese pot-bellied pig was into fung shui we would have done things differently.  What we had placed in the SW corner was now in the NE corner and the pans are now on the opposite wall from where they were placed the eve before.  Before I forget... the pigs new name is Wilbert... I was informed by my daughter, Madison, that he didn't look like a Herbie.

As the night-time hours came upon us, my sister Regina and I decided it was wine-tasting time.  She wanted to try some more of my homemade vintages.  The Rhubarb didn't go so well, but the Peach Wine bottle emptied in no time at all... my sister was a bit talkative after that.  "Hey Santa Clause, Santa Clause, Santa Clause!" was sung loudly every time a puzzle piece was put into place by either her or Madison.

We also decided to call Amber to get more details on the goats.  I got balled-out for not putting the peanut brittle recipe online.  Merry Christmas to you too, Amber.  lol  She did motivate me to post it on the recipe page so you will all have to thank her for getting it on the site.

Rich

PS:  We also got a call from friends Mike & Karen, it seems they are hosting a Christmas party at their farm on Christmas Eve.  We're looking forward to the event... I'm trying to decide on the best wine to bring.  I think Carol has already figured-out what she's going to bake for the party.

December 21, 2007 - Pig in a blanket?  I wish...

The day started much like any other day, with the exception that today I was to go the airport in the Cities, to pick-up my sister Regina, who found it in her heart to bless us with her company.  We chit-chatted, reminisced and then told each other how we thought the other was a big dummy-head. You know... the regular sibling stuff.  It's really too bad that I'm usually right and she's usually wrong when it comes to the correct identification of big dummy-heads.

As our trip home reached its near halfway point, my cell phone rings.  It was my wife Carol, calling from Willmar where she had been doing some last minute shopping.  After a bit, I asked her how her errands were going.  She said she was cutting the day short as the conversion van she was driving stunk so bad, she couldn't continue.  It seems she had picked-up a pot-bellied pig for a friend... and it crapped in the van.  As funny as that sounds, it really isn't that funny.  Why?  Because it's my van.  To help justify the smell, I guess telling me how cute he was was suppose to make it all better.  It doesn't!!!  She informs me that she was taking the pig home to give him a bath in the bathtub and that her and the pig would most likely be there when we arrived home.

OK, we're home, the car is unpacked and we have our coats off.  We walk from our foyer to the main part of the house... and cannot not help but notice that the house smells like somebody took a wheelbarrow full of hog manure and dumped it on our couch, our loveseat and dining room table... then decide that that wasn't enough and preceded to fling it about like a ticked-off chimp in the jungle.  The house spelled like crap... not regular crap... not even regular pig crap.  The house smelled like really stinky pig crap.  I thought to myself, "we just lowered the property value by 30 Grand. NICE WORK woman!"

Carol hears us walk into the house and calls us into her bathroom.  We covered our noses and walked forth.  As the smell got more intense, we could hear a few faint pig-grunts.   We turned the corner into the bathroom and there he was, our new little pot-
bellied pig.  After a little discussion, we decided to let him run about the house before taking him out to the farm.

Once arriving at the farm, we put him into the now empty chicken coop in the same old dairy barn that houses the other animals (llamas, goats and Clara the chicken).  The straw bedding was thick in the coop and within minutes, our new little guy had settled down from his 15 minute ride.  With a little food and water in his pot-bellied tummy and it was time for him to get a little shut-eye.  In the process, we may have named him Herbie... as in Herbie the Elf, from the movie Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. Herbie was the elf that didn't fit in at Santa's workshop... he wanted to be a dentist instead.  Hopefully, our Herbie will fit in.

Rich

December 20, 2007 - The comfort of grandmothers

With Christmas drawing so near, and me whining like a 5 yr old, Carol caved.  In her weakened mental state, I convinced her we needed to make Lebkuchen (Lee-bakken) cookies.  They are a  German flatbread style cookie (kind of like gingerbread).  If you don't like working for your cookie pleasures, you best not take-on this assignment.  When you work your way through the crushing of the almonds, the chopping of citron (one of the stickiest substances on earth), and the grinding of anise seed, you will stir in flour until your arms feel like rubber... just to let the mixture set for 5 days so you can roll, cut, bake and frost these cookies.  And if done correctly, they won't be burnt... and you will vow never to make them again.  But once you taste them, you will have them on your baking list for next year... you may not make them, but like I said, you'll have them on your list.

While Carol started the cookies, I bailed for an hour.  I went out to my paternal grandparent's old farm to retrieve their antique phonograph and records.  Since their passing, it has always been in the back of my mind.  The thing probably has no real monetary value, but as a small child, I would stay awake for hours at night, spinning the records by hand.  The true value is in the memories.  Ever since I could remember, it had been broken... but I didn't care.  I played dozens and dozens of the old vinyl discs (with the scratches, hisses and pops) until either my grandpa or grandma told me to go to bed.  It seems 2 AM was too late for a little boy to be stirring about.  Ah, the memories.

When I returned home from retrieving a treasure from my childhood, I discovered the cookies, Carol had started, were well underway and waiting for more ingredients to be either cut or crushed, before being added to the kettle.  Both Carol and our daughter Madison were sick of doing "my job" with these cookies.  With the work of all three of us, I'm glad we got them mixed and in the fridge.  I doubt they will set for the 5 days before being baked.  The recipe is, of course, on the recipe page.  The recipe was rescued from my maternal grandmother's kitchen, by my mom.  As a child, Lebkuchen cookies were a staple at my Grandma Rust's house.  One could always find a coffee can of these wonderful cookies in her freezer.

December 19, 2007 - 5 gals. of plum wine & I think she might be pregnant

It was time to tackle the five gallons of our plum wine I still had brewing away in the primary.  Before I continue, I need to say... of you want to make a wine that is easy, don't attempt plum.  We needed to strain the pulp before racking it into the secondary.  It was a three person job... maybe one person could do it if s/he has six arms.  But who has 10-15 years for that kid in India to grow up, huh?

Subsequent to racking, we added more sugar and enjoyed the accomplishment of a job finally completed [for now]  If I could accurately describe the smells coming from the must, I would... but I can't.  So, I can only mention that it smelt great... kind of like apple wine, but better... more complex.  I sure hope this wine turns out well... if for no reason other than knowing that the work done thus far, was worth it.  On the other hand, if it tastes nasty, I will have no reason to attempt it again.  At this point, I'm looking forward to the five gallons of plum wine.

Let's go to the farm... while out there and knowing that goats will forever climb and jump... and crap.  I decided enough is enough.  I could stand no more.  I drug an old beat-up cattle panel from the pasture area and figured there was a good 6' section in it, in which to make a gate.  You see, we have some very good quality alfalfa hay stacked in the corner of the barn. To say the least, it was once nicely stacked... until "they" came.  They, meaning the goats.  Now the stack looks more like a pile.

Doing my best to stay true to my words, and using and/or reusing wherewithal, until totally exhausted, I saw the damaged 16' cattle panel as having some potential.  Today was the day it was to be useful.  Like I said, it had a good section in it yet.  After cutting the bent and broken pieces off... a new gate appeared... just large enough to keep the goats from the hay.

As I was tending to my manly duties of fix'in stuff, Carol noticed the belly of one of our female goats.  It seemed to be larger than what looks 'normal'.  While trying to catch her, it was evident that there was movement from within.  If Carol could bet a dollar to a doughnut, she'd say she (the goat) was prego... maybe with twins.  A small udder seems to be forming as well.  Was she like that before?  We're not sure.  My sis, the veterinarian, is coming from San Diego for Christmas, we'll see what she has to say about this situation on Friday. Right now, I can say with certainty, that she might be pregnant... or she might not be.

While returning from the farm, we soon realized that we need to make certain we clean the goat crap from the bottom of our boots before climbing into Carol's Cadillac.  The floor heat vent has the capability of helping the stink flood the interior of the car.  Needless to say, the vehicle smelt a wee bit 'feral'.

I think it's time to buy a pine tree air freshener.

Rich

December 15, 2007 - I think I forgot

Without reading the blog of the last few days, I might have forgotten about the plum wine we started.  Since Carol has been baking and making candies for Christmas, we are running out of room in our deep-freeze. 

Carol decided it was time for me to make another batch of wine.  It seems when we have 30 lbs of plums in the freezer and an open 5 gallon carboy, it's time we bring the two together.  After reviewing my wine inventory, I quickly decided I have enough table wines that are aging.  Most folks, who know me, know I like the wines one can DRINK... so I thought another sweet wine was in order.  I chose a Sweet Plum Wine recipe from Jack Keller's site.  Right now I have it in my 7.5 gal primary, being sure to "punch the cap" twice daily, as instructed in the recipe.  The smell is delicious and the juice is inviting.

Onto the main part of the kitchen, Carol has made a pan of peanut brittle... it was as perfect a batch as I've ever seen.  For me to say that is really quite something, as I'm not one for brittle.  But, I tried it... and I liked it... a lot.  It was crisp without being hard... it was textbook.

Continuing the Christmas baking theme for the day, Carol and Madison made 3 dozen cut-out sugar cookies and Madison frosted them with some sort of colored powdered-sugar frosting.  If you like a sweet cookie, these are for you.  I ate a few... I stopped when my teeth started to hurt from all the sugar.

December 14, 2007 - Rabbit labels?

Huh?  What?

Carol woke me up saying something about rabbit labels.  It made no sense.  After my head cleared, I realized that the subject was not about rabbit labels as it is about a couple of items on Carol's recently conjured 'honey-do' list.  It seems she has my day planned for me... I have to convert a small table we got from the farm into a rabbit hutch, as well as print some labels for my freshly bottled hard cider.  I guess she also figures that once the cider is labeled, I can get them off of the kitchen island so she can bake some cookies today.

Well, when you say it that way. rabbit table, rabbits & labels... rabbit labels... it's all the same.

Half hour later...
It seems the morning is going to be somewhat more productive than usual... even before my second cup of coffee.  The cider labels are printed and applied.  If interested - here is a pic of my simple (pre-coffee) cider label.  I kept the colors monochrome on purpose.  I think it adds a nostalgic feel.  Your feedback would be appreciated.  I did something very similar for the case of root beer.  If you would like to do the same and have a program that can print a certain number of images per page, I would suggest printing 8 or more per page.  I first printed 6... the labels end up being out of proportion for the size of the bottle.

Evening comes...
I got the small steel-tubing framed table revamped into a cute little rabbit hutch,  I added a few wooded 1x4 strips to frame the flooring.  I then stapled ½x1 wire for the floor (anything bigger is hard on the bunnies' feet... anything smaller won't allow the pills of an adult rabbit to fall through).  I then wrapped the outside with common chicken wire, making sure to stretch it tight.  I simply cut a hole in the top and made a door from some scrap plywood.  We still had a few old hinges and knobs from our kitchen project, so we were able to reuse those.  Remember to reduce, recycle and reuse when possible. 

We now have a rabbit hutch that will last decades and it only cost a little bit for wire and stables.  Check it out.

Rich

December 13, 2007 - Hard cider and other holiday things.

Little has happened, but what has happened are somewhat related to the days of yesteryear. 

Firstly, we made two gallons of homemade root beer (22 bottles) the other day, so to match that, I decided to bottle the first of two gallons of hard cider.  I've tasted our hard cider, during the racking process and the stuff is awful.  Why I doubt everything they say on TV is truly a wonder.  Back in the old'en days, hard cider was nothing more than a way to preserve the juice of apples.  OK, I'll buy that.

In my attempt to make my cider more palatable (or at least less offensive) I thought I would try my hand at sparkling cider.  I'm assuming that's why we have champagne, with it's oh-so-fun little bubbles.  Without the bubbles it would probably be called chimp-pee'in.  The French would pronounce the 'ch' with a 'sh' sound... of course... the snooty bastards.

Added to my gallon batch of 'still' hard cider, I made a simple syrup of 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 water.  Hopefully, that mixture will reactivate my yeasts and carbonate the cider.  Now I only need to let it set for about a month.  Nowhere online have I read that I need to refridge the bottles to keep them from blowing their tops.  If you know better, please email me.

The second of which, I got a call from my littlest of sisters.  It seems she thought I could help find some chemicals in a grocery store she was at.  Need I mention I was still in Minnesota and she was in Arkansas?  Do the math... it just don't add up... and she used to be an auditor (or something like that) for one of the largest accounting firms in the US.  I guess that's why they promoted her... they had to do something to get her out of the number's game.

Anyway, she was looking for some laundry bluing and ammonia.  I'm not sure if I helped her much, but the point is, she wanted to pass-on something that we have done a time or two.  Her project for yesterday was to fine the needed ingredients to make a charcoal crystal garden for her young family.  It's as fascinating to do as it is inexpensive.  It's a great idea for a simple holiday tradition for boys of all ages... including dads.  The recipe is on the recipe page.

Tomorrow is more goings-ons for Christmas.

Rich

December 11, 2007 - A man knows about nails.  It's time to get hammered.

This blog entry has little to do with the farm... and even less to do with appearing 'masculine'.

Here's the story: 
A couple of days ago, Carol and I were running errands... groceries, gifts, and the miscellaneous. While Carol was at the saloon, getting her nails done, I'm sure I was doing something manly... really manly (my guess was chopping wood or something).  Needless to say, I finished before Carol did.  So I waited with Carol, her nail tech. and the other 40 women clucking about whatever they cluck about to others who like to cluck back. I don't cluck!

Fast-forward to today:
Before heading to the farm this morning, Carol came back from Willmar where she brought our special needs daughter, Chastiti, to a hair appointment.  Wendy, the gal who cuts Chas' hair also does Carol's nails.  She mentioned to Carol that the color combination and design she used on her nails a few days ago is quite popular.  Let's just say it had two shades of red and one had a sparklies in it.  The color with the sparkles went at an angle across the outside tip of each nail... subtle... but classy.

Wendy also mentioned that several of her nail clients have had it done.  She told Carol, "Tell Rich that the color combination he picked out was going well."

It seems that when I had a few moments to kill after running my manly errands that day, I also sat in the nail saloon area where Carol was.  I may have suggested a thing or two.  And now I'm gay!  I have a sudden urge to change the drapes, talk with a lisp and drink wine spritzers.  Truth be known, I do like wine spritzers... but only when using my homemade wine and Ginger-ale.

Rich.

PS:  If you think there is a bit of a contradiction between living a simpler, less wasteful, less "look at me", homesteading lifestyle and needing to get one's nails done, every two weeks... well my friends, you are-ah... preaching to the choir-ah.  "Do-ah... I hear a hallelujah, brother?"  Hallelujah, now please path me a wine th-pritzer!

Rich

December 09, 2007 - Kids love to drink beer.

It was another cold freezing day in central Minnesota,  I think the high was somewhere around 11ºF... other than checking on the farm animals... it was a good day to work inside... again. 

I figured I'd make beer for the kids... root beer that is.  I went out into the garage to get a case of 'returnable' beer bottles.  I don't think they make them anymore, but you know what I'm talking about... they're 24 [non-twist off] bottles in a hard cardboard case.  If you were like me after high-school, these cases can also be used for furniture... if you have enough of them.  Which, of course, I did.

Anyway, I scrubbed and sterilized the bottles, mixed a double (2 gal.) batch of root beer on the stove over heat, added the yeast and waited.  I wanted to make sure the yeast was active before capping the old bottles.  About 6 hours later, tiny bubbles started to rise... so I got our old $6.40 eBay bottle capper off the shelf and started capping.  A two gallon batch will fill 22 12oz bottles.  I did the math on the cost/bottle of root beer.  Homemade root beer costs approx. 13¢/bottle.  The recipe is on the recipe page.

The interesting part of this project was when I was unpacking the bottles.  After being in storage for nearly 10-15 years, I was sure I was recycling the old bottles for the first time, but a few of the bottles had obviously been used by another home-brewer.  I took a pic of the bottle.

Rich

December 08, 2007 - It's fun to wine!

Nothing too fascinating at the farm today... the goats are behaving themselves when not given the chance to do otherwise... and the llamas seem to be friendlier with each passing day.  Maybe they're being selfish.  For some reason they are (or at least one of them) leaving 'beans' in the barn.  I suppose they are being nice to us because we are cleaning-up after them.

Back at home, Carol was busy decorating the house this morning as I was bottling a couple batches of wine.  The first to be bottled was the Beetroot wine.  Austin and I tasted it, it was pretty good.  The recipe says it will be ready after a year, but I doubt this will back it that long.

Then the 5 gallons of Apple was next.  I made this from the raw apple cider I got from Bill at Sunnyside Orchards northeast of Pennock.  I expected a desert wine, but got something of quality instead.  Yepper, I was disappointed.  There is a BIG difference between drinking wine and sipping wine.  I like the kind you can 'drink'.

Lastly, I bottled an old favorite... Peach Banana wine.  It might not sound good, but it tastes good.  In wine, bananas are primarily added to a recipe to add body.  Peach wine typically lacks body, so we add bananas or raisins.  Since bananas are cheaper, I use them.  You may be asking yourselves, is this a drinking wine?  I gotta say, damn straight it is.  This is some sweet wine.  I've made it a couple of times and it turns out great every time.

Shortly after I bottled my wine, Carol worked on a beverage of her own.  She got this recipe off of the Food Network.  It's called Cranberry-Orange Vodka.  It's suppose to taste like old fashioned cranberry relish.  We'll post the recipe on the recipe page of this site as soon as we have time.

Later tonight, I think we'll be making a couple gallons of homemade root beer.  We want it to be ready by the time my sister Regina visits us at Christmas.

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Well, we didn't get the root beer made.  It seems we have misplaced the bottle brush we use to help clean the old beer bottles.  We have three of them... maybe I should say we HAD three of them.

So... instead of root beer, we decided to make a Christmas favorite - Sugared Almonds.  It's a pretty simple recipe.  I assume it's simple, otherwise Carol won't trust me with it.  This year we are making a double batch.... it's that good!  Check out the recipe page for this one.  If you make it once, you'll make it every year.  We got this recipe out of a cookbook my mom put together years ago.  Thanks Mom.

Rich

December 06, 2007 - How dumb is your brother?

I received an email today.  It was from my lil' sis Amber... some of you have met her... and yes, she & I got the above average looks in the family... ROFL  Actually, only one of us did.  Poor Amber.  :^(

Anyway, back to the email.  I copied an excerpt... here it is - "Your stories of the goats are hilarous - i think i told you but maybe you didn't catch on, but our billy goats name is HOUDINI!!!! duhh! - i thought you were smarter and would have caught on!"

I replied, "Yeah... about your HOUDINI... nope, didn't make the connection.  Maybe I'll blog about that... again "how dumb is this guy?"  LOL"  The dumb guy is me, her brother.

It's fair to make mention that it all depends on who you ask the question, "How dumb is your brother?" as to what kind of a response you get.  I would like to think that a sister that doesn't read this blog will respond with "Not very, why?  What did you hear?"  Of course we can surmise what one sister's answer might be.

Rich

December 05, 2007 - Give them something good to drink!

Carol and I couldn't stand it any longer, Madison has been begging for 'the good' milk, so we called my friend Mike to line-up a time to get a few more gallons of his organic milk.  Once there, we shared our trials and tribulations we were having with the goats.  Misery loves company they say, so I was more than delighted to listen to the troubles Mike was having with his son's ponies.  Thanks Mike... for cheering us up.

Before we left, we mentioned that we had a wethered spring goat for sale.  Mike mentioned that we should get in touch with an old classmate of his - Grant Krieger.  He sells some of his livestock direct-to-customer and that he may be able to help us find somebody who is interested in our goat.  Again... thanks Mike.

We then headed to the Farmer's Elevator in Kerkhoven to buy a few sacks of feed and then to the farm to check on our [assumed] captive goats.  Yepper, the little rascals were still in the barn... they had water and hay... good deal!

We gave them a little feed and drove back home.  It was a good day!

Rich

PS:  The Farmer's Elevator doesn't sell llama feed... go figure!  ☺

December 04, 2007 - Yesterday they were smart?

Before we left the farm yesterday, Carol opened the south door of the barn.  She thought if the goats got a little chilly or hungry, they might go inside.  The idea is so simple... so simple it might just work.  Yeah, right!

Prior to leaving for home to work at the farm, I packed-up my fencing tools, put new rope on my grandfather's old wire stretcher, bundled myself up and headed north.  It was 15°F outside, with a wind and snow, so I wasn't in the mood to do any chasing.  If we can't seem to find the goats when they're out of the pasture, I darn well better build a better fence, in order to keep them in.  I'll add another stand of barbed wire, freeze my who-ha off and head home.

As I drove into the farmyard to start working, I noticed a goat standing in the open doorway of the barn.  Can this be true?  Is this a dream?  Somebody pinch me.  I nearly wet myself.

I slammed the pick-up into park and started running towards the barn...  Ha, ha you little Houdini wanna-be's.  I slid the barn door closed and thought I did a good days work... "Pack-up the truck boys, it's time to go home!"  Well, maybe not... but it is time to go for a snowmobile ride.  I did just that. 

When done sledding, I gave the goats some hay and water... then I headed home... it's time to re-evaluate my options... I must not forget to pat myself on the back for having a smart wife who  opened the barn door the day before.

Rich

PS:  We heard on the radio that a spoonful of honey is an effective cough suppressant.  Madison was more than happy to give it a try, rather than drinking her regular cough syrup.  Within 10 minutes, she was quiet.  She mentioned she finally got a good night's sleep.

December 03, 2007 - Good-bye cruel world dumb goats?

We must be getting better at chasing the goats into the pasture... we did it 4 times within 2 hrs today. 

We better equipped ourselves with another vehicle... we added a snowmobile (aka a snow-machine for you Alaskans).  I figured if the goats were going to run through the snow, I was going to keep-up.  I was on the Polaris, Carol was in the pick-up and Austin was on foot.  And to help even the score, we also had radios to communicate with. 

Within 5 minutes, we had them in the pasture.  We had a plan and it was well executed.  As we were patting ourselves on the backs... we watched the goats walk through our fence at the other end of the pasture.  OK kids!  THIS MEANS WAR!!!

After running, driving and snowmobil'ing, we had them in the pasture 2 more times.  Sometime during the next five minutes, while we were discussing a new game-plan, the goats disappeared.  I mean they were gone... really, really gone.  We searched everywhere, by the creek, the east fence-line (a ¼ mile away), by the corncribs, the woods, in buildings... everywhere.  They vanished... It's hard to hide eight dumb goats right?  Or is it?

Finally, Carol and Austin took off for the highway, then to Holmgrens, our neighbors.  I figured I could easily find a tree, in which to hang myself before they got back.  I thought if a goat... a group of goats... a group of dumb goats can out-smart me, I don't deserve to go on.  As I was looking for that one 'special' limb, so I could end it all... I saw the goats.  I quick radioed Austin & Carol to get back to the farm (I also told them that I found the goats... shhhhh!).  We got them in... again.

... as I was driving the snowmobile away, they were out again.  Screw-it.  I quit.  The worst part - I was too exhausted to look for a rope.  I guess I get to live to see another day.  Maybe I'll die in my sleep.

Rich

December 02, 2007 - Why are goats goats?

When I was younger, I remember that our goats were quite well behaved (except when they were on top of a car).  Like most things, they too have changed.  We have had the goats on the farm for less 24 hours and we have spent 4-5 hours trying to get them back into the pasture.

When we first arrived at the farm today, I thought I'd check the barn to see if our goats made themselves at home.  If they were comfortably inside, I'd lock them in for a couple of days, until they got use to where the food, water and shelter is.  I peeked into the barn... and I saw only the llamas.  OH CRAP!  CRAP, CRAP, CRAP!!!!

I quick jumped into the truck and went to the spot where I found them yesterday.  CRAP!!!  They weren't there.  I drove near the creek, along the road, and through the fields... no sign of the goats.  Maybe they were in a different building or something.  Then I saw Carol and Madison... they found the goats in the gravel pit near the barnyard.  Two hours later, we had them back in the pasture.

I think I hate goats.  lol

Why didn't anyone ever mention that a 4-wheeler (ATV) is worthless in the snow?  I got 12 ft out of the garage and then Carol pushed me 12 ft back into the garage.  That was fun!  Next time we're bringing the snowmobile.

Rich

PS:  At least the chicken was in the barn.

December 01, 2007 - We now have a goat for sale.  click here

We went to look at the goats today... and yes, the snow came as predicted.  The goats looked extremely healthy.  The owners obviously take very good care of them.  We were expecting to view nine goats but found only eight... it seems the oldest of the herd died earlier this year and from what we understand, it died at a ripe old age.

After a few minutes of Dan telling us what he knew about the goats, their ages and such, we decided we'd take them all.  The first few loaded quite easily... the next two gave a bit of a fight and the last three got out of the pen for us to chase for the next half hour or so...  in the wind and the snow... yeah, it was real fun.  I think a normal person would have gotten frustrated, but it reminded me of when I was growing up... it seemed as if we were always trying to recover animals that had gotten out of the pens or pastures. So I grinned at the experience and the memories it brought to the surface.

It seems that when you buy goats from Beth and Dan, you qualify for a free handsome looking Americana hen... a good deal all around.  In fact, Dan indicated he'd take less for the goats than previously mentioned... Heck yeah!

The story worsens... We made it through the storm, back to the farm.  Carol and I briefly discussed our unloading tactics and whether or not we should wait until I hooked-up the fencer before letting the goats run... I of course said it'll be fine.  So we opened the end-gate of the trailer and all eight of the goats jumped out, ran to the north side of the small pasture... and they kept on going.  They crawled between the non-electrified electric fence and a strand of barbed-wire.  Way to go Rich... you freak'in bone-head.

Madison kept her eye on them until the disappeared from sight, then Carol jumped in the pick-up to look for them... they were gone.  About 50 min. later, after completing the task of connecting the fencer to the fence, I headed-out, on foot.  I found them on the east side of the property, a mere ¼ mile away.  I chased them back to their new home.  Once there, they 'broke' into their pasture, receiving a little shock as each one took their turn walking through the fence. And that's where we left them... with fresh hay and water... hoping they will where they should be when we check on them tomorrow.

If anyone is interested, we have a spring-born banded male (a wether) for sale.  Make us an offer.

Rich

Tonight, we'll start decorating the house... it seems easier to do with a couple of inches of fresh snow and a little traditional Christmas music on the stereo.

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