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Friday, April 20, 2012

New babies at Pooh Acres

Cinnamon started acting really strange about a week ago. She was agitated in fact throwing her dishes around the cage and really looked distressed. Phil and I built a nesting box for her that night, because non experienced me decided she HAD to be in labor. I filled the box up with straw and put her to bed for the evening. The next morning Phil went to check on her, the stinker took all of the straw out of her box and shoved every piece of it out of the cage. OK, we needed to try hay. She has left the hay in her box and displayed absolutely NO signs of wanting to be a mom. Until yesterday!




Yesterday she pulled lots of her fur out and made a nest in her box. No babies last night. No babies at 6 AM when I went out to check her. Finally late morning I asked Phil to look (I am at work ), he said there was some blood on the box but could not see anything. Then he saw a baby. I don’t know how many she has had, I am very excited to go home and look for myself. This is such an exciting time at Pooh Acres. I love babies, and spring time. I am super excited to get a pig. I hope it actually happens!



How could anyone ask for anything better than living on a little piece of heaven? We have been given the responsibility of caring for these animals. They in turn will feed and care for us.

Roasted Vegetables

I have found a great way to cook vegetables and they are so delicious you might not want to eat the entrée. I am probably the only person in the world who has not had roasted vegetables before. I made them for a first time a few months ago, and we honestly ate nothing else, because the vegetables were so good.



I love bristle sprouts cut in half, asparagus, rutabaga, carrots, onion, cabbage, sweet potatoes, green beans. The list could go on and on. After you have a cookie sheet filled with assorted (or just one if you want) vegetables drizzle olive oil over the veggies (don’t go crazy with it) then add seasonings. Every time I make it I put different seasonings on, switch it up. Pop it into the over at 425 or so for about 20 minutes then turn the veggies over and pop it back in for another 10 minutes or so. You can stop here, but I like them crispier so I turn the oven on broil. You have to keep a close eye on them because it will burn easily. I remove it from the oven when it is brown/blackish. I always make more than we can (hopefully) eat because I like to take it to work with me. I don’t even warm it before I eat it at lunch time. The taste of it cold is different, and quite good!


I think I could live on roasted vegetables.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Thoughts about my husband


When I  was a child I spoke as a child, I thought as a child.  It took me a long time to grow up, in fact I am probably not totally grown up.  One thing I have done is mature in my feelings.  When Phil and I got married, I loved him.  But now as we have lived together, and worked toward building our dream my feelings have changed.  I am no longer looking at him with little girl eyes (not that I was a little girl when we got married!!) but with eyes that hold the appreciation of someone who always has my back. 
We have worked together to build gardens to feed us, and rejoiced the bounty of the harvest.  He has carried and hauled tons of straw and hay for mulch in the garden.  He has pounded countless posts into the ground to build fences to keep the deer our.  He has carried an amazing amount of jars up the basement steps and then after I have filled them, back down the steps.  He has carried my canners for miles up and down those steps.  He has helped me lug our harvest from the garden into the kitchen to prepare it for storage.  Along the way he has enjoyed some amazing food as well!
He was not excited about following my hearts desire to raise animals.  That didn’t matter he brought in a shed to make into a chicken coop.  He built a fortress for the chickens to sleep in and a huge yard for them to run in.  We raised 150 birds for meat last year (we sold 75% of them), this year we will do that many but not all at the same time.  He has complained about them, but also loves them.  He knows each of the laying hens by name, and sometimes can tell me what chicken laid which egg.  He didn’t complain to much about getting rabbits, and now that we are about to have our first litter, he is as excited as a child.  Pigs, well we will talk about that next year.
My point to all of this, I have the great fortune to be married to my best friend.  He has rescued me when I got a flat tire on a very cold and snowy day.  He rescued me when the tire fell off my car on the interstate.  He has bandaged my cuts and blisters.  He has dried my tears and let me cry when I was sad. He has encouraged me to do what I needed to,  cheered me when I failed.  Loved me when I felt unlovable, walked beside when I am strong, and behind to push me when I am weak.
The road will never be smooth, but without the bumps how can we appreciate the downhill side?