Been a Real Busy Week...

....and it's only Wednesday. 

Before I tell about our busy week,  I want to share a lovely photo, at least I think so, with you. 

I have always loved seeing a flock of geese on pasture.  I think it's beautiful.    No, this is not my farm, but I did take the photo.   The flock of pastured geese is something I definitely want on my farm.  It's a work in progress, as most of our fencing is still barb wire, but we're gradually replacing it all with woven wire as money and time allows.

All of Monday was spent moving new ducks, chickens, and goats from their old home to our place.  It was wet,  cold,  and over cast all day.  Then Sandy pummelled us all night long. 

 

 

The morning after Sandy, everything was so wet, flooded, and muddy.  It doesn't help that it's been a steady drizzle the whole time, as well. 



Where I couldn't convince the goats to LEAVE the barn.......

I couldn't convince the ducks to go IN the barn!   They preferred the mud puddle!

This is Spike, and he was enjoying an early morning after storm romp on a stump.

The girls thought he'd lost his mind......

Just tell me you brought my breakfast...I'm positive that's what she was thinking. 
We spent all of yesterday repairing fence and barn stall boards that the goats had literally ripped apart, the Spike and the other guy yet unnamed that is, who tore their way through the barn wall to get in with the girls.  Nice. 

We baked cookies, made potato soup for dinner (which was nom nom nom and had a white cream base),  hauled some hay home, and then tucked everyone in for the night.

Today will be another busy, farm chore filled day.  Kids are also having their annual Halloween parties at school today, so there was an air of excitement this morning as they dressed and pulled their chosen costumes on over their school clothes.

Stay as dry as possible everyone!

Extreme Home Makeover - Little Tykes Style Part 1

Since joining pinterest I've found a lot of neat things I want to do, make, try with my kids, or refurbish. 

One of those happens to be re-vamping an old, horribly colored, slightly faded Little Tykes Playhouse.

Our kids have had their playhouse since 2006.  I think.  It was handed down from friends who's child had outgrown it.

There was just one problem.

It  was  is butt ugly.

Our oldest children of course have now outgrown this childhood toy.....but that didn't prevent them from teaching two of their younger siblings how to climb up and jump OFF said playhouse.

Worried for their safety, afraid they may get hurt hurling themselves from the peaks of the playhouse, we removed it from the play yard....and turned it into a temp chicken house.

It has since housed ducks, feeder pigs, goats, and dogs.

Notice the Little Tykes play house to the left?

 There is one thing I can say for Little Tykes toys.  They take a beatin'.  While albeit dirty, the playhouse is still intact, and fully functional.

We're in the midst of rains from Sandy who's currently raging and berating the East Coast, but tomorrow, after some morning obligations are covered, and if the rains cease or ease up enough to allow for it, we will begin the disassembling of the playhouse...and moving the pieces into the garage....where we will sand them down, and after we choose our paint colors, begin the re-painting process. :)



What we hope it will look like!!

 



I'm really excited to get this project underway! And of course, blog about it!  :)

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I've been making this treat for several weeks now, since discovering it via  pinterest.

My taste buds cheered with that first bite.

These should come with a screeching warning label: do not attempt to eat one.  Especially if you're addicted to sweet and yummy.  And pumpkin. 

You can find the full recipe here at cakeology.com, and I will tell you my 3 secrets for how I make them.

1. I blend everything in my heavy duty kitchenaide mixer. My kitchenaide and I single handedly, one recipe at a time, take on the world....or at least, the foods in my kitchen...This mixer whips up some mean mashed taters!

 

 

2.  Every cookie baked in my kitchen is baked on a stone baking sheet...a well seasoned, well loved stone baking sheet.  I.  love.  my. stone bakeware.  Almost as much as I love my kitchenaide mixer.  Almost.   

 

 

 

 

3.  When I mix up the icing, I put everything in all at once...and I do not SIFT the confectioners sugar.  Why, you ask? I'd like to lie and say I don't own a sifter, but alas, that's simply not true.

 

Frankly, I'm a full time farming mom of 6, with the youngest barely beyond that first birthday and now into everything, and I really just don't have a spare hour to spend sifting 1 and 1/4 cups of confectioners sugar through my sifter.  Besides, my mixer is a beast of whipping everything together, and saves me A LOT of time! 

 

But if you want to take the time to sift that stuff, by all means, be my guest :)

 

 

 

Sifting or not sifting, really doesn't matter as the end result is still the same...a moist, perfectly delicious pumpkin cookie with a slathering of cream cheese icing.  Nom nom nom

 



Pretty Peach Pie

 

I actually made this pie 2 weeks ago.   Peach pie is a favorite around here.

 

I used a quart of home canned peaches.  They are the most delicious peaches :)

 

Add 3/4 cup sugar...

 

 

3 Tablespoon of Flour

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

 

Mix it all up

 

 

until it looks like this!

 

then we spoon it into our pie crust...

Doesn't that look yummy??

 

Now I'm the type that I like to fancy up a pie when I can.  So I make my slits in the top crust to "look nice".

 

 

This pie I decided to make EXTRA fancy....so I didn't crimp the edges..and it just

 so happens that a couple weeks ago my sweet, sweet husband bought me several new cookie cutters, and one happened to be a maple leaf!

 

So I trimmed up the edges of the pie....

 

 

 sealed the edges, without crimping....

 

I cut out leaf shapes in the excess crust I had trimmed off the edges...

 

and lined them around the pie...

 

isn't that gorgeous?!

 

And then I baked it!  I carefully covered the edges with foil, which wasn't easy with those leaves! Baked at 375 for 25 minutes, removed the foil and baked another 30 minutes.

 

The result?!

 

Look at this beautiful, crispy, golden peach pie!!!

 

 

It was perfectly beautiful!!