Hair, Hair, Hair

Most women complain about their hair.

I'm no exception, but I really shouldn't complain.

I've inherited my hair from my father's side of the family

since my mother's side all have very thin hair.

My hair is thick, grows extremely fast and I'll be

50 this summer and I don't have any grey yet.

(and don't worry, I check all the time)

My 80 year old aunt still had no grey

so I guess I shouldn't complain...

good genes.

Not everyone is so lucky.

So last year I decided to let it grow to donate it.

And this is the result.

(I guess I could have worn a more flattering shirt.)

I wanted to make sure we got as much length as possible. So we put it in ponytails.

10" of  hair!

Tah Dah!

The finished product!

At first it was kinda freaky...and cold!
Now I'm used to it and I kinda like it.
I'm saving a lot on shampoo...but not on hair styling products.
Phew...that's not cheap.

But the hair is now gone to it's destination.
I guess it takes 6-7 ponytails (one full ponytail) to make one wig.
They actually strip all the hair of it's colour and then redye it to
the desired uniform colour.

So if you've got long, non chemically treated hair...
think about donating it.

I might do it again in a few years.
Maybe....

Have a Blessed Day.
Lisa

Back in the day *Christmas*

A few weeks ago, I dragged my mother to a writing workshop.

I'm really big on writing down memories.

I love hearing old stories of when she was a child and the

life they led was fascinating.

She was one of 10 children!

Her parents had 5 boys and then 5 girls. 

She's the eldest of the girls.

I keep telling her I'm going to write a book about her and her siblings one day.

This is probably why I write a blog.

It's not very private, but after I'm gone hopefully my memories of somethings will 

continue on.

But as usual I digress.

The workshop was for people over 50.

I'll be there soon enough, so they let me attend.

We were to write a story about ourselves.

From long ago, yesterday,whatever.

So my mom and I chose back in the day stories.

It gave me an idea.

I asked her to send me pictures of my childhood and I would blog about the

 memory that would pop up in my mind.

So here goes. Not one of my usual posts.

Something different.

I was born in 1967.

So the first two pictures are of my second Christmas.

The third, I'm not sure and neither is my mom.

I look to be around 4 or 5.

My dad, me and my mom at my grandparents house.

My aunt Diane, me and my aunt Elizabeth at my grandparents house.

The thing I remember the most about my Christmases as a child 

was my grandparents house.

Back in the day, before global warming, we used to have snow...a lot of snow.

A kids dream.

Christmas eve would start with having supper and my mother would always make this nasty concoction called "Pate a la viande".

It was tea biscuits mixed with stew meat. It was dry and nasty. 

But if I didn't eat it all, we wouldn't open our gifts.

So even though it would make me gag, literally, I would eat it.

I'm not sure why, but around here, it's customary for a lot of families to open 

their gifts Christmas eve.

After we'd open our gifts, we would bundle up and head to 

what people in these parts affectionately call "Pinque Alley".

This is a road that most of my relatives live in and we have the nickname of

"Les Pinques" the Bluejays.  Why, well that's another post.

We'd usually start at my Uncle Alphonse and Aunt Angela. They had two girls that were just a bit younger than I was. By now they had opened their gifts and we could see what they had gotten.

Next was Uncle Joe (his real name was Alfred, don't ask me why they called him Joe) and his wife Cecile. They had two children also. A girl and a boy.

And on and on we kept visiting the rest of the uncles and aunts.

By the time we were done it was late in the evening and everyone

congregated at my grandparents.

The house was small. And when you'd walk in the door the heat of the wood stove and the smell of rappie pie would hit you in the face. 

Mmmmmm.....heaven.

The small kitchen had a large wood stove that would heat that end of the house.

The even tinier living room held a large Wood Chief stove that would keep

 that end of the house warm and toasty.

When I say everyone would congregate there, I mean around 20 adults and 20+ children in a teeny tiny house.  The adults would chew the fat and us kids would go in the stairs to talk about what we had gotten for Christmas and school woes. The stairs was the premiere spot to be since it was unheated on the second story, so the heat wasn't so bad in the staircase.

But we weren't allowed to go upstairs. It was a bit of a mystery.

Some years we would make up stories about what was really up there.

The food was always there. You just ate as you got there. There was no set time to eat.

As long as you were done for 10pm.

The menu was simple, chicken rappie pie or stew meat rappie pie.

Dessert was jelly rolls (homemade of course!) and Barley candy.

The barley candy was a mystery to us little kids.

There was a place in Yarmouth that would make barley candy. But that was, at the time, over an hour away. And I don't remember my grandparents owning a car.  So how did it get there? 

Hmmmmm.....

After everyone had full bellies, my grandparents would sit down in the place of honour and open their gifts from everyone.  Much ouuing and ahhing went on. 

All gifts were admired, didn't matter how small or large they were.

Then ten o'clock was the bewitching hour. 

Everyone needed to leave to go to the midnight mass.

I'm not sure which was worse, eating pate a la viande or going to the midnight mass.

Remember, we were just little kids and waiting in a huge, hot stuffy church for two hours before the mass began was torture.  You couldn't talk, fidget or look around to see where your friends were.

By the time the mass began, most kids were asleep. 

But every midnight mass, one kid was chosen to bring up the baby Jesus.

Oh my, what a honour that was, especially since they got a small gift afterwards.

I never got chosen, because this wasn't our home parish.

After the hour and a half long mass, we were on our way home.

My mom, my dad, my uncle James and myself


It had been a long day. It didn't take long to fall asleep.
The strange thing is that, even though Santa was coming the next day.
I hardly ever remember Christmas Days. Only Christmas eves.

Which means one thing.
Faith, family and fun were more important than gifts.

Have a Blessed Day.
Lisa

Wife of the year award

Everyone does things for their spouses that they don't really like.

My thing is dill pickles.

I cannot stand the smell of vinegar

and I cannot stand the smell of dill pickles

or pickled beets.

Yuck.

But I do it for him anyway 

cause I love him....

right?

We'll do just about anything for our spouses....

right?

Well I think I should win the wife of the year award

for this one.

A local delicacy we have in these parts is called

"des beurgots picklez"

Pickled whelks.

Yup, you read that right.

Not those tiny little periwinkles you see on the beach.

But these nasty, honkin' big things.

They get caught in the lobster fisherman's traps so they sell them

to people who like to nosh on them, like my husband.

The problem with pickling these suckers is that they are full of slime....

Yup, you read that right also...slime

First of all you have to cook them in a large pot.

Take them one by one and make sure the foot is facing down.

So as they cook they can de-slime themselves.

I must have you just drooling with anticipation by now..

right?

Well wait, I'm not done.

It takes a while to take them one by one to position them correctly.

But after it's done you add a little bit of water and steam them for 20 minutes.

Like you would a lobster. (I'd rather have the lobster)

While they're enjoying their steam bath

you have to make a brine or brew or whatever you want to call it.

Everyone has their own concoction.

We borrowed ours from my mom's neighbour.

It's really just apple cider vinegar, brown sugar,onions, water and pickling spices.

Cook that for a while.

Next you have to find a long pointy stick (we used lobster picks)

To dig them out of their little houses.

And yes, they look like Shrek's boogers.

I'd better stop, I can just imagine my description is wanting to make you run

 to my house and break down the door.

The cooked product.

Note the picture above. Looks like a nasty booger doesn't it?

Well you can't eat the entire thing. Nooooooo...

That would be too easy.

Remember, these things, even though they've de-slimed themselves as

 they were cooking, are still very slippery and slimy.

So you have to take a very sharp knife and cut about a third down.

You don't eat the grey bottom part or even that white middle part.

Just the part that looks like a snail's foot.

Then you have to squeeze it and take the gunk out and rip, 

 what I would call a fingernail, off!

To me it was all gunk, so it was hard to decipher what was edible and what wasn't.

This is the part of the process that takes the longest.

Take a gander at this beaut! Look at the lovely slime coming out of it.

Just beautiful.

Then after you're all done.

Just put in hot jars with the brew, seal and hope to hear the ping and pop

of the seals.

The finished product.

A 5 gallon bucket made seven 500ml jars.

That's a lot of work for a few jars.

We started at 9am and finished at 11am.

I'm selling them at $50 a jar.

And no, that's not a typo.

If you would like to try some of these mouthwatering

delicacies, come and visit me.  

There might be some left by next week.

If hubby hasn't eaten them all.

Wait, don't bother...

he said he won't share.

Have a Blessed Evening!

Happy New Year and a Belated Merry Christmas

Lisa

What's happening?!

What's going on since the goats left?

Lots!

I know I said that I'd post more, well I guess that went out the door.

Sorry.

I started my Master Gardeners course and that has been taking most of my spare time.

I thank God everyday I didn't start this course when I still had the goats.

It's very time consuming.

They expect you to spend 3-4 hours a week on the course.

Well for someone that hasn't used their brain in a long time

(well in that capacity anyway) I've had to study 2 hours a day 6 days a week!!

I still get up at the crack of dawn. That's when I do my best studying.

It's a lot of work and I'm using a lot of brain power...

but I LOVE it!!!

I did my first exam on Monday and made 90%!

I'm now working on my first assignment and studying plant anatomy and 

coniferous trees.

I need to know 100 botanical plant names by the time I'm done.

So far I've done annuals, perennials and deciduous trees.

I think I'll have a few issues with identifying coniferous trees. 

Unless they have a tag on them in the forest, they all look like spruce, pines or cedars to me.

This is how I study my Latin plant names. The old fashioned way.

Last Saturday was the Christmas on the Sissiboo craft show.
We did awesome!! Almost sold out of apple butter and I had made
A LOT of apple butter. Phew.

My table at the craft show.

One of our new scents this year.

Then since we no longer have any goats....

we hopped on the ferry to Saint John New Brunswick and stayed overnight.

Just for the heck of it!

Jamie and his girlfriend came with us also.

I know...Jamie has a girlfriend.

I'm getting old.

She's pretty and super nice.

She's quiet, which compliments Jamie's...

how shall we say this...exuberant personality.

Yes. That's a good word. 

Here we are on the ferry! 

On the ferry Dave was wearing his Christian firefighter tee shirt.

A couple approached him saying how they liked it.

Come to find out they were going home from a conference at a church in Yarmouth.

We talked the entire ferry ride to New Brunswick.

It's nice meeting fellow Christians.

We had just gotten home from the ferry on Sunday morning when Jamie and I decided to go to the penny sale to support the Clare Feral Friends.

We had fun and actually won a few prizes.

Monday night I had a meeting with three students from the local university.

The university has started a new program for their business students.

They pair them up with local small business owners to help them with their businesses.

So I got chosen for my soap business!

How cool is that!

They are so nice and look genuinely excited to help me. I got a girl and two guys.

The girl is from Fredericton NB, but her grandparents are actually local. We know them well.

Small world.

The two guys are from Morocco and Congo.

This could be interesting to see what ideas all three have.

So needless to say I haven't let grass grow under my feet since the last time we talked.

Have a Blessed Evening.

Lisa

Happy Fall!!!

That is all.

Have a Blessed evening

Lisa

Goats...A.D.

Hmmm..

How's it going?

Well that's the question I've been getting a lot since we sold the animals.

Tickety boo.

That's usually my answer.

I miss the goats a lot...a lot.

I miss not having fresh milk at any given time.

Store bought milk..well....bites.

And I'm always running to the store to buy some.

It's weird how you take for granted what you have until it's gone.

I honestly didn't think we drank all that much milk.

Boy was I wrong.

I don't even drink it, I just use it for baking (which I now have time to do) and for my cereal.

But it still goes faster than I expected.

I actually enrolled in the Master Gardener's Course at Dalhousie University

and got my email that it starts tomorrow! Ack!

Hibiscus.

Since my body still thinks it has to get up at the crack of dawn, I'm going to let it think that.

And that's what I'm going to be doing for an hour every morning...studying.

I never thought I'd hear myself say that.

We are slowly getting into a new routine with no animals other than chickens, dogs and cats.

It's weird going outside and hearing....birds chirp.

The roosters don't even crow all that much anymore.

Strange.

It's so quiet...some days I love it. Some days I don't .

I still putter around the property wondering what I have to do.

Oh yes! That's right.

I have laundry to do. And lots of it!

That didn't stop....ever.

I'm gearing up to make my famous apple butter for the upcoming craft sales. 

Fire and Ice Hydrangea

I went to our local apple orchard and bought 6 bushels of apples.

I'll be busy soon.

I'm also busy making soap, soap and more soap.

I had time to decorate for fall this year.

I like it.

We have a helper coming next week.

Her job will be taking down the fencing.

The helpers we had the last 2.5 weeks brought in all our firewood.

That was awesome!

Well that's all for now

Have a Blessed Evening

Lisa

Another Chapter

I never thought I'd see the day that I would post this.

I'm not even sure how to begin.

I've been thinking about this for the last year or so.  

But I was avoiding it.

I sold all the goats.

There I said it.

There's been rumours in the community going around as to why I sold all the goats.

Some people are even saying I've got cancer.

Put all your minds at ease. 

I don't have cancer.

What I do have is I'm exhausted.

Mentally, physically and emotionally.

I thought I could do this homesteading thing while working a fulltime job off the farm.

Well I have come to the realization that I can't.

I admit it...

I cannot.

There I said it.

Like I tell people when they ask why?

I'd get up at 5am and go till 10:30-11pm 

and I still didn't even have everything that needed done, done.

A few people told me in the last few days that they have no idea how I ever did it.

I was constantly worried about the health of the goats, paying for the goats, if something happened to one of us, who would milk the goats? 

Like all farmers know, leaving the farm for even just a weekend involves a lot of planning.

The first thing being...who's going to come and take care of the livestock.

It's relatively easy to find someone to come and take care of a dog, cat or even the chickens.

But when it involves dairy animals that need to be milked twice a day, everyday, whether you want to or not. It's almost impossible. Especially if you don't live in a farming community like we do. Whether you're sick or not (like the time I had H1N1 and one of the goats didn't like Dave so I had to drag myself to milk her anyway), whether there's 5 feet of snow, hurricane force winds, etc...

They still need to be milked twice a day.

And then you have to deal with people that are not always honest.  

And that's what broke the proverbial goat's (camel, whatever) back.

Like I said, I had been thinking about selling the goats for a year or so when I sold a goat to someone. To make a long story short, he says she was sick and almost dead when she got there. We say she was fine when she left here. He wanted his money back. (the goat is still alive btw) or he was going to slander our name everywhere. This wouldn't bother me too much because everyone knows we have quality livestock.  Like my vet said, this was cyber bullying. Blackmail whatever you want to call it.

It was the end.

So I talked it over with Dave and we decided to give a fellow farmer a call to see if she wanted to buy all the goats. Every last one.  I gave her a good deal because I knew they were going to an awesome place. She had bought goats from me before, so she knew our goats. This is also the place my goats went to "goat camp" a few summers ago.

I told Dave, if she says yes. Then it's meant to be. If she had declined, then I'm not sure if I would have tried selling them to someone else or kept them. 

But she said "YES!" 

So the goats are gone.

Did I cry when they left...no.

But I cried after they left. I couldn't even talk about it for a few days.

I knew I had made the right decision for the goats and me, but it was still hard.

I'm tearing up as I write this. I still have a hard time looking at goat pictures.

I miss their little faces, their personalities, but I don't miss anything else.

Will I ever go back to goats? Don't know.

Maybe, maybe not.  But for the next 3 years, no.

I'm not selling any of my equipment for now....

I'm still going to make soap. Because that was one of the biggest questions people were asking me.

I have enough milk in the freezer for a long, long time of soap making. And when I run out I have my sources that will supply me with milk. And no, it's not where the goats went. We are still going to be homesteading, just not with goats. More with gardening, preserving our food etc..

So from this day forth this blog will be more of a gardening theme. A travel theme.

Since I'll have time to travel...not exotic places. But just down the road. 

I'm also going to take my Master Gardener's course with Dalhousie University this winter.

I'm also going to take care of my health. Exercise, eat right and try not to stress too much...ya right.

I'm going to take care of my family more, go to church more, camp more, bake more, blog more, be able to visit my friends more...relax more.

We still have the chickens since the way they're set up they can take care of themselves for a few days. And I've got plenty of people that can come and pick up the eggs if need be.

So it's really not the end.  It's just another chapter in my life.

So sorry if I've rambled on too much, but now you know...

the rest of the story.

Have a Blessed Day.

Lisa