December 31, 2018

New Year's Eve 2018:

My morning started off a bit late today, but in my defence, I had a certain furry fellow decide, in the wee hours, that he needed to make a quick trip outside for a moment.  He got done what he needed to do and we settled back in.  That is, until he decided he needed to go down stairs about half an hour later.  He never goes down stairs unless he hears something, or in this case, I heard something. . . . Up again, for a clean up on Aisle One (the stair case) and Aisle Two (the landing).  That wouldn't have been much fun for Papa to stumble upon ~ or rather into ~ as he went about to start his day.  So, 8:30 was feet to the floor time for me today.  And our buddy is fine.  Don't know what his issue was.  It was a Dog Thing, I guess?

After vacuuming ~ who ever thought it was a good idea to have a Bernese/Pyrenees as a house dog needs to really think long and hard about the falling hair clouds.  Honestly.  It's like living in a snow globe! ~ and tidying the kitchen, it was time to check on the chickens and gather eggs.  Papa has the coop vented nicely so the water doesn't freeze any more.  Only 4 eggs on the first collection.  And, nope, they have absolutely NO intention on going out today either!  Silly chickens!  I then checked on the lettuce and spinach experiment in the greenhouse.  We have sprouts, but I am not thinking they will amount to much.  We'll keep hoping though.  Probably not enough lighted hours.

Papa informed me last night that the Wilbur Snacks Bucket was getting a little low, so I set about to make him a new batch.  I got a Pumpkin Puppy Biscuit recipe, from a friend some time ago and Wilbur really loves them.  I tweaked the recipe to suit his needs and likes:

Wilbur Snacks Recipe:

1/2 cup of pureed pumpkin (I roast and freeze our own home grown pumpkin, in pre-measured portions)
2 eggs (farm fresh)
2 tbsp skim milk powder
pinch of salt
2 cups + a bit more, if more needed (I mill wheat to make whole wheat flour)

Knead ingredients together to make a rather stiff dough.  Roll out on floured surface.  Spread apart on baking sheet.  Bake 350 F for 20 minutes.  Turn biscuits over and bake 20 minutes more.  At this point, I just turn off the oven so they harden completely.  He just loves them!  He has been known to sit by the door of the pantry, just in case I have a notion to give him one.   The photos attached show a batch, doubled.  I don't know what I was thinking!  I guess I had 4 eggs with cracks that needed to be used up.  But seriously!  Wowzers!

Wilbur Snacks dough rolled out.  This was a double batch!  What was I thinking?  Yikes!

Wilbur Snacks baking on 3 trays in the oven.  This should tide him over for a while!  

While the Wilbur Snacks were in the oven, Papa mentioned that the Chocolate Syrup jar was empty.  May as well make a batch of that too, while I am waiting on the oven.

Chocolate Syrup Recipe:

1/2 cup of cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups of white sugar

pinch of salt

Mix these all together in medium sized saucepan, pressing out chocolate lumps (or sift if really bad).

Add 1 cup cold water and stir over medium heat until boiling.  Boil for 3 minutes.  Mixture will rise up in the saucepan - Do Not leave it unattended!  Lower heat if necessary to contain it to the pan.  Remove from heat after 3 minutes of continued boiling and stirring.

Add 1 tsp of pure vanilla to sauce after removed from heat.  Allow to cool in the pan for a bit.  Store in pint jar in fridge.  Keeps indefinitely.  Or about 2 days if the Grand-kidlets are over!  Ha ha ha!

Excellent over ice cream, mixed into milk for chocolate milk, whatever you might want a chocolate sauce for.  Enjoy!

I am looking forward to what 2019 will bring to No Regrets Ranch.  I think we are on the cusp of some pretty major life changes (and perhaps a few challenges) for Papa and I.  The only thing certain in life, is after-all, Change.  Might as well roll with it!

Happy New Year to You All!

Warmest Regards,

Gremlynn

December 30, 2018

Good morning!

We all have a different perspective on what makes a beautiful day. Today, I think it's cold, blustery and miserable out. Wilbur, on the other hand is saying ~  Come on, Gramma! It's beautiful out there! Can we pretty please go for a walk? Please! It's so nice outside! ~ Sorry Buddy. Not happening! What a guy. Any cold, miserable, blustery day is His absolute, favorite day!  He is so sad looking out the window.  I will let him go lay in the snow later or chase his ball down the driveway.  But Gramma won't be going out for any sort of walk today.  The wind will cut right thru you!  

Me?  I'm not thinking it's as nice out as he does.  Today is a great day for catching up on some laundry, doing a bit of knitting and maybe head out to the studio for a little more scrap cutting up later. Anything but going out for a walk!

The chickens aren't even sticking their beaks out of the coop to check on the day either today!  It's so cold that most of them have also decided against laying any eggs. Good thing they were productive yesterday and the day before.  I guess that they can lay low today as well.  Perhaps winter has finally arrived?  It has been so beautiful recently.  

And if you absolutely have to travel today, do take extra care.  The temperature, with predicted wind chill, is forecasted be -40°c today in Northern Alberta.  Not as cold here, but still not very nice.  Keep warm everyone.  

Warmest regards,

Gremlynn

Poor Wilbur.  Looking longingly at the Beautiful Day outside.  Sigh

Gramma's Idea of a Good time!

December 29, 2018

Good Afternoon:

Ah, Saturday!  Our Saturday today began like most other Saturday's throughout the year.  Several years ago, our kind neighbours offered to take our weekly garbage to town to drop off at the County Dump, as they were taking their own bags in anyways.  We initially declined their kind offer, as there isn't really ever that much to take since we recycle and compost pretty much everything we can.  They continued to insist, so we finally gave in and agreed to let them take it.  And thus began our weekly tradition of their picking up our 1/2 a small, white kitchen bag of garbage.  The only caveat was they have to stop in for freshly baked muffins and coffee first, before they head to town. This ritual has become quite a tradition now.  We rarely, if ever miss our Saturday Morning Coffee Date.  In fact, if one of us has to cancel for whatever reason, we both feel as if something was missing.  It has become and entirely wonderful way to start our weekend.  

And, in my efforts to live a simpler life, I am ditching electronics in my house as they expire.  Case in point, yet another coffee pot gave up the ghost.  Solution:  Old School Perk.  Nothing to break down and the coffee is actually much better tasting!  Win/Win!  

 

Old School Pyrex Coffee Perk

After our neighbours (and our garbage) left for town, I proceeded to bake a batch of Flax Buns and do some laundry.  Papa perused his Wine Making Recipe Book for inspiration as he is in a wine making mood.  Again, Win/Win!  Hee hee

Flax Buns, fresh from the oven!

I then took Wilbur the Snow Pup for a nice walk, or is it he who takes me for a nice walk?  Regardless, it is a beautiful afternoon and we decided that we both needed some fresh air.  It always cleans the cobwebs from my head.  A few kilometres later and himself is ready for a nap and I am ready for some studio time.  Again, Win/Win!  

Winter is his FAVOURITE season!  It must be from his Swiss Alps Heritage!  This Boy LOVES the Snow!

And I will spend the rest of my afternoon cutting up random scraps of fabric into usable squares for my next project.  

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Warmest Regards,

Gremlynn

 

December 28, 2018

Good Afternoon:

My Turkey Stock pressure canned yesterday afternoon turned out beautifully!  Look at the gorgeous, rich colour! 

Pressure Canned Turkey Stock

One of the things that Papa & I love so much about homesteading is producing our own food.  We grow our own beef, chickens [for meat as well as eggs] have 2 large gardens, a greenhouse and 2 orchards ~ one being the trees along our driveway.  We have always dreamed of living a self-sustaining lifestyle and are pleased with our efforts so far.  I still purchase baking items like flour, sugar, yeast, etc as well as our dairy.  We have talked about getting a cow, but we just wouldn't be able to consume the milk produced or the products made from the milk.  We have considered getting a nanny goat as this would be a more reasonable amount for us, but we still couldn't make butter or hard cheese from the goat's milk.  I would, however, love to be able to purchase raw milk to make my own butter, cream, soft cheeses and yogourt from, but this is not something that is available to us in Alberta.  If I want it fresh and raw, we are going to have to produce our own.  Perhaps this may become an opportunity in the future at some point.  Papa has a source for wheat that I mill into my own whole wheat flour to bake with.  It makes the lightest, most divine Honey Whole Wheat Bread.

Our Farm grown chicken, veggies and herbs.  Yum.

Wheat before and after milling into flour.

Farm Fresh Eggs and Preserves

To us, it is quite enjoyable and very satisfying knowing that 85% of what we consume comes from our land and our hands.  Very fulfilling, indeed.  We know it is not for everyone, but we prefer puttering away at home over pretty much everything else.  It is very long and hard work for 3-4 months, but for the rest of the year, meals are pretty simple.  I either grab something from the freezer, the root cellar or a jar of something from the cold cellar.  We don't have much in the way of fresh veggies in the winter, but to be very honest, we don't actually like what is available for purchase.  After eating a just picked tomato or cucumber or peas, pulling a fresh carrot or digging up a beet or potato, really ruins you for "fresh" veggies when you have to purchase them.  I can hardly stand the taste and texture of lettuce from the grocery store, tomatoes have no taste and half the time the cucumbers and peppers are already old tasting by the time I bring them home. So, we have decided that we won't waste our time and effort to get "fresh" produce when my canned and frozen is superior.  We eat so much fresh produce from April to November that we are okay with waiting until the spring so we can have our own again.  This also goes for meat.  We so prefer our own product, that we will do without before we purchase something over the counter.  I guess we have become very accustom to how things are "supposed to taste" that we can't be bothered with commercially grown or prepared food!  Who would have ever guessed that we would become Foodies!?!  But we don't mind the work and are willing to wait for the results.

In the winter, I get to spend quite a bit of time out in my studio, reading, looking at patterns, designing, creating, quilting.  I love to come out here to watch YouTube videos, listen to CBC Tempo and work on my writing.  I find it a lovely change of pace.  In the evening, if we are in the house, I am often knitting or hand quilting something.  Last winter I hand quilted a King Sized Double Wool Batted quilt for our bed.  It was warm and cozy to work under.  This year I am knitting lots and lots of wool socks!  It takes a few evenings to make a pair, but it is a relaxing pastime.  And I really love the results.  They are soft and cozy and wear and last so well.  

Hand knit cozy wool socks

105" x 105" hand quilted with a double wool batting 

Enjoy your day!  Thanks for stopping by.

Warmest Regards,

Gremlynn

  

December 27, 2018

Good Afternoon!

We survived another Christmas, well fed and full of cheer!  And we are back again to reality.  I am a content person so I do so love my daily routine. 

I woke this morning to about -7*c and beautiful Hoar Frost, something those of us who live in Alberta get to enjoy often in the winter.  This, and Squeaky Snow!

Beautiful Hoar Frost on the Chicken Run fence.

Boxing Day found Papa and I home alone.  The grand buddy who was to spend a few days with us ended up being sick.  Poor guy.  No one wants to be sick over the Christmas Break.  He got feeling better, then his Mom ended up with the same bug.  We opted to leave them to it and spend the time instead to make up some Turkey Stock and to start a batch of Raspberry wine from the berries we harvested and froze from our Raspberry patch earlier this summer.  

Turkey stock simmering away!

We actually ended up with over 15 lbs of frozen raspberries in the end after finding another bag in the freezer.

This steam juicer has proven to be quite a valuable asset to our collection of kitchen needfuls.

One of the several jugs of raspberry juice siphoned off.

We spent the afternoon watching a couple of movies while the raspberries released their juices and turkey stock simmered away.  Not one to sit, I have been knitting up Mug Cozies with some left over wool from other projects.  I think I have 5 or 6 now.  Great small gift items and it keeps my hand busy! 

Mug cozies made up from left over wool from previous projects.

To make the Turkey Stock, I started with 2 turkey carcasses ~ one was previously frozen, one was freshly roasted from Christmas day.  To this I added rough chopped carrots, celery, an onion and about 15 or so peppercorns.  I let it simmer and reduce for about 36 hours in my Rival counter top roaster set to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.  After letting it cool a bit, I strained the lot and kept some of the meat to add to my quart jars, that I pressure canned today.  In all, I ended up with 5 quarts of beautiful, golden Turkey Stock.  A productive day indeed! 

I am currently out in the studio, still cutting up squares from scraps of cotton to be make into a scrap busting quilt in the future.

Beef stew in simmering the house.  Dumplings will be added for a cozy, warm, winter's supper.  We are already noticing that the days are getting longer.

Thanks for stopping by!

Warmest Regards,

Gremlynn

Merry Christmas 2018!

Merry Christmas!

We woke up to a dusting of snow this morning.  It is nice to have a fresh snow for Christmas.  Hopefully it won't get too carried away since many folks are travelling today, including ourselves.

After Coffee and muffins with Papa, he set about to wrap the Piggy Banks he made for the Grand-buddies.  They have finally cured so the wrapping paper won't stick.  He did a great job.  They are so Cute!

Papa is really enjoying his time out in his workshop building and puttering.  He finally has time to spend more time out there.  It has been a productive season for him building and painting several new yard decorations this year.  All of his patterns come from https://www.thewinfieldcollection.com/ .  He has been ordering and using their patterns for years with great success.

Santa and his herd of reindeer hanging out on the fence.

Santa and the elves sneaking into the house!

A closer view of the reindeer.  Signs painted courtesy of Gremlynn.

Wilbur checking out the Christmas Train.

Papa and our 10 year old Grand Buddy worked together to make his mom a Pink Flamingo pair for Christmas.  He had so much fun tracing out, cutting out, nailing together and painting his project.  I think it turned out just darling.  He is pretty proud of himself and she will be surprised for sure!

Our Grandson's gift for his Mom.

It is wonderful to be able to share our love of creativity with our Grand Buddies and their being excited to learn what we want to teach them.  We are so blessed to have them live as close to us as they do so we can see them as often as we want.

And with that, we need to prepare for our voyage to the land of the Little People, so we may enjoy our Christmas Day with them.  

Merry Christmas to you all!   

Warmest Regards,

Gremlynn

Christmas Eve Baking Day!

Merry Christmas from No Regrets Ranch:

I am the first to admit that I am not an early riser.  If left to my own devices, I naturally awaken between 7:15 - 8:00 a.m.  If Papa's alarm goes off at 7:00 a.m. or often before, the defiant part of me will just lie there until considerably later.  This morning's feet hitting the floor time was 8:30.  Not the most efficient time to arise when one has a lot of work to do!  It takes me a bit to get going, but I am a force to be reckoned with once fully alert.  And, I can go long past Papa, into the evening, when he has long given up on the day.

My day typically begins with greeting my faithful companion, Wilbur, our 2 year old Bernese/Pyrenees cross pup.  He brings untold joy to our quiet household. It is wonderful to have someone who is happy to see you, regardless the weather and who just wants to be in your company!  We begin by opening the chicken coop, checking their water, throwing them some grain and collecting the eggs.  We have 13 hens and one gentleman rooster that we lock away at dusk, to keep them all safe from predators.  In return, they net us 8-12 beautiful chicken butt nuggets every day.  

Today I need to make tarts to take to our kids' place, for Christmas dinner dessert tomorrow.  I will share my process and recipes with you.  I have been making my own fillings for years, once I figured out how easy and inexpensive they are to make.  Today's offering is Cherry, Saskatoon (both from our orchard on our property) and Butter Tarts.  I have never figured out why they call them Butter Tarts when the main ingredients are raisins and brown sugar!  But who am I to question tradition?

Let's begin with the dough:  I start with 1/2 pound of pure lard (sometimes it is my own rendering from the beef we harvest every fall) and 1/2 pound of salted butter.  Both of these are cold, from the fridge (Approximately 1 cup of each).  To this, I cut in 5 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour, with 1 tsp of salt added.  I use a pastry blender, but you can use 2 knives, if you don't have a pastry blender.  Once this mixture is crumbly and combined, I will mix together, in a 1 cup glass measuring cup the following ingredients:  1/8th cup (eyeball to 1/2 of the 1/4 cup mark) of white vinegar, one beaten egg, then fill the rest of the cup, to the one cup mark, with cold water.  Add this to the flour mixture and combine.  You will have to knead it to get all the flour worked in, but the dough will be soft.  I divide this into 5 similar sized portions.  Flour your surface and flatten one of the balls of dough.  This should roll out to about 12" diameter circle.  Roll gently - don't put your weight into it or you will stretch the dough and it will shrink when baked!  Add sprinkles of flour to keep the dough from sticking to your rolling pin or the surface.  I will get 5 dozen tarts from this amount of dough, made in standard sized muffin cups.  Grease your cups for easy removal.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.  Tarts take about 22 minutes to bake in my gas range, but you can adjust to suit yourself.  Mine are a golden brown and the filling is puffed up when done.   

Adding the vinegar/egg/cold water to the blended lard/butter/flour mixture.

To make the Blueberry or Saskatoon pie filling I started with about 1.5 cups of frozen Saskatoon berries that I rinsed off before adding to a medium saucepan.  To this I added 1/3 cup of white sugar and a good squirt of commercially prepared lemon juice (you could add fresh lemon if you like, about 2-3 tsp).  Bring to a boil over medium heat and squash berries with a wooden spoon against the side of the pan.  Boil about 3 minutes.  In a separate bowl, mix together 1 tbsp of corn starch and 1 tbsp of cold water.  Add this to the boiling mixture and stir, returning to a boil again.  Boil and stir for 1-3 minutes, until thickened and glossy.  Remove from heat and let cool before adding to your prepared, raw tart shells.  Bake as above.  Makes 12 standard muffin tin sized tarts. You can also refrigerate this and use it as ice cream topping or cheesecake topping.  It is delicious!

The cherry pie filling is made the same way as the Blueberry/Saskatoon filling, substituting pitted, frozen or fresh cherries.

Butter Tarts:  Soak 1 cup of washed raisins in 1/2 cup of heated apple juice for about 1/2 an hour until the raisins begin to plump.  To this add:  3/4 cup of brown sugar, 1 1/2 tbsp of corn syrup, 1 beaten egg, 1 tablespoon each of milk and softened butter and 1 tsp of vanilla.  Mix together and spoon 1 tablespoon into each raw tart shell in a standard sized greased muffin cup.  Bake as above.

Tart baking complete!  Cherry, Saskatoon and Butter Tart, ready to go.  Now to keep them away from Papa!

My baking adventure is over, kitchen cleaned up and a cup of tea made to enjoy while I type this.  This evening we are invited to Papa's co-workers house for lasagne and a visit.

Wishing you all the Very Merriest of Christmases.

Warmest Regards,

Gremlynn

The Back Story

Good Afternoon:

Welcome to No Regrets Ranch. Why am I doing this?  Actually it was suggested my my eldest grand-daughter one day.  "Gramma, you have some mad skills.  Why don't you Blog?"  So, I guess, here I am.  The intention is to create a document for my grandchildren, so they might have a record of why we do what we do and how we do it.

First of all, the name "No Regrets Ranch", came from "Live your life . . . With No Regrets".  Ranch was just added since it is a nice fit.  We're not really a ranch, but rather an acreage with a collection of critters, a couple of vegetable gardens, a greenhouse, beautiful flower beds and an amazing view.  We purchased the bare land back in August of 2008 after Papa threatened to tear up our yard in town, to "re-do" it, says he.  We had just completely renovated the main floor of our modest 1990's bungalow and had landscaped the simple, grassed yard to become a beautiful oasis in both the front and back.  Our ultra narrow, single car garage was his workshop and he simple ran out of things to do.  There was no way I was going to let him tear up the yard, because I knew it would only be a temporary fix. This is a guy who needs projects and something to do, all the time.  I knew we could only travel so much and I had to keep him busy for the next 40 years or so, or he would drive me batty!  This prompted a search for an acreage with enough space to occupy him into our soon to be retirement, and well beyond.  The piece of land we found gave him a completely blank slate to work with - it was within our budgeted amount, was completely bare, virgin pasture with 2 trees, partial fencing, and close to town, on hard top. Win/win/win for me!  It was on the market for literally days.  We made an offer, it was accepted, and so began the whirlwind of purchasing the land, designing the house, planning the landscaping, out buildings locations, building the house, selling our home in town and simply completely transforming our lives.  We had a small idea of what were getting into as we had lived in the country for a brief time in the 1990's and always had the dream of owning our own piece of property to create the self-sustaining lifestyle we both longed for.  This was to be our "forever" home or "the pine box exit" house, as we have called it.  We broke ground in May of 2009 when we had a contractor frame our house and get it to lock up stage.  From there, in August of 2009, we took it over to finish it ourselves.  Our son is a cabinet maker so he designed all the cabinet layouts for the house.  Our daughter helped to lay the hardwood and friends and family assisted where they could, when we needed a hand.  Other than the electrician and plumber, we proceeded to complete everything else ourselves.  We moved in in November of 2009.  It was an absolute blur! 

So, this is the back story of how we got to where we are.  From here forward will be snippets of our day to day lives and activities therein. 

Thank you for joining me as I share our journey.

Gremlynn