Dear Mr. Groundhog, You lied!

It has now been 7, yup count 'em 7, weeks since you predicted an early spring, so why is it still cold with snow showers? I really want to get the potatoes in and I still can't leave the broccoli and cauliflower seedlings out in the hoop house some nights. What's up with that Phil?

Sunday morning one of my young does had her first kid, the cutest, teeniest little doe. I think I am done with goat kids for the season now, unless my youngest has a kid this summer.
I am still expecting I-Lean, my three footed Jersey heifer, to have her calf the end of this month. Can't wait to have milk for the baby goats, homemade cheese and
ICE CREAM!

I have a lot of seedlings started and still need to start LOTS more. I also need to get Boogies live Christmas tree planted as soon as it is dry enough to dig a hole.

C'mon Spring!

More new babies!

Two more kids! A doe and a buck!

Battle for the Bed

Apparently the fact that it is called a dog bed has no bearing on the Boogie-man. He has decided that the new pet bed should be for his television viewing comfort.

Poor Tank has been forcibly evicted many times now.

While he has been victorious a few times, for the most part the bed is now Boogie territory! LOL

The child has even been known to 'share' the dogs treats with them :-{

Nothing sweeter (or quieter) then a sleeping Boogie.
Waiting on 2 more does to freshen, need to pick up new rabbit cages from a friend about and hour away and still have some work to get done on the hoop house.
The wood pile is dwindling, but I think there is enough to make it through to warmer days. I am hoping that day isn't too much further off!

It was a dark and stormy night.....

We are expecting a snow and ice storm, so Whitney decided this would be a good night to kid. After I finished evening chores I put her in a stall with a bale of fresh, dry straw.

At 10pm I checked her and found a beautiful buck kid.

An hour later, while checking on him, she produced another buck without incident, affording me the opportunity to get these somewhat graphic photos of the process.

You don't get any more newborn then this, just seconds old.

The barn cat, who appears to have picked a fight with someone tougher then he is, watched over the proceedings from the safety of his perch on the stall wall.Well that was it, two bucklings.
Two more does left to kid this spring and one in summer so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some girls!

Just another reason I love my wood stove

There is nothing warmer then wood heat, at least not in my opinion. It is very drying, so I keep a pot of water simmering thus giving me a handy bottle warmer for the goat kids.

Cooking on a wood heating stove can be a challenge, but given my frugal nature I want to make use of every opportunity I have to save money. Since I am already dealing with a big old ugly wood heater in my dining room then damn it, I am going to use that heat to cook! To start, I put a grate across the top to give me a flat surface to work with.

Obvious candidates are soups and stews which like a nice long simmer, but I've done roasts, prime rib and even a whole turkey using a large roasting pan I picked up at auction.

I own a number of the 'Turbo Cooker' pans and really like the way they work. Yup, the ones from the info-mercial, but I have found them on ebay, at garage sales and even had one sent to me for free after I mentioned how much I liked the on the Homesteading Today forum. They are really just a big, deep skillet with a dome lid and steaming rack and have a pretty good non stick coating. And yes, I actually do use them to 'bake' cakes and they come out great! I also like cast iron, though it does take longer to heat.

While it does take some time, my absolute favorite way to cook bacon is on the wood stove. The fat drains away and the bacon gets nice and crispy without burning or splatter.

I place a rack on a large baking sheet and lay out the bacon in a single layer, placing the cookie sheet on the hottest part of the stove top. I turn the pans as necessary and how long the whole process takes depends on stove temperature and thickness of the bacon.

I also use a camping box oven for some baking, however I am still looking forward to installing my vintage wood cook stove so I can do some real wood stove baking. I only have a small camp oven, which limits what baking I can do. I've been kicking myself all winter for passing on a large vintage wood cook box oven last summer because I didn't want to pay their asking price.

The next project that I am really looking forward to is building a solar oven.
If anyone has built or used a solar oven I would love any insight as far as design and tips and recipes for cooking.