Saturday, 18 March 2023

Spring is gearing up and so am I



I did a bunch of canning this week. Some chicken, beans, and also broth. I did have a bit of a scare when one of the broth jars popped it's top in the canner but I did some reading and it happens some times with broth and other high water things because the jars don't cool as fast as the canner causing pressure differences. I just have to make sure broth and juice batches cool extra slowly.



I've been talking with a local greenhouse installer to get some pricing. Hopefully we can have it ready to go by the end of this year.


Gluten Free Cheese Crackers

I made some banana bread and some crackers but I didn't realise how low I was on flour so the sandwich bread, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, cheesy dinner rolls, and carrot cake will have to wait until I get my hands on some more flours.



Just as the snow finished melting Tuesday, a gale blew through and tore off some more panels. It was flapping like crazy in the 100km winds to the point that I litterally told neighbours not to come down here because I didn't want anyone getting hit when one tore loose.



Thankfully the next day was warm and calm. I took down as many panels as I could get by myself and took the doors off to further reduce the wind resistance. We're planning to repurpose the arches as pergola or garden trellis posts but for now it can just sit there.



I assembled the Eglu yesterday so we're one more step closer to chickens. All that's left really is buying things. Food, ground oystershells, and a bunch of chicken first aid stuff I definitely want to have on hand before they get here. Birds are ridiculous in not showing signs of trouble until it's urgent, so I want the basics of wound care and supplies for common problems like sour-crop and bumble-foot.

Feeling pretty busy lately and enjoying every minute. Looking forward to all that spring will bring.



Tuesday, 7 March 2023

The snow stayed

The snow surprisingly stuck around this time. There's been a bunch of days over freezing but not long enough or hot enough to melt it all before another batch of snow. A kind neighbour plowed our driveway the first two times but the snow just kept coming back.

My french lessons are going well and are highly entertaining thanks to DuoLingo.

I made myself a lil checklist to manage remembering all the lil maintanence tasks the machines need.

I've been fairly busy in the kitchen. I've been experimenting with bread refilling baked beans and such.

Puttering around the house is fine by me. I'm glad to have the time to prepare for spring.