6 Sleeps To Go

Life around the Shack has been pretty busy lately.  The kids and I head north for our 3rd season of living in a tree planting camp where I am the cook , Alley is my helper, and Zac does dishes and other camp chores.  This year is a bit different though as Trev, my husband, is heading to our trapline at the same time to do some cabin building and trail clearing.  Usually, we leave him behind to carry on with his job and to take care of the critters.  He is in the process of retiring though, and is free to pursue his 'thing' at the trapline now.  

This has meant some changes here as far as the critters go.  We are at a point in our lives where we are away from home as much as we are home!  So, with the hassles of having neighbours having to come up every day to feed horses and chickens, we have made the difficult decision to downsize.  I made a trip last week to the Island to pick up Alley who had been there for 2 months helping her sister with the new baby and my 4 year old granddaughter, as well as to deliver Zac's Bearded Dragon, Rango, for lizard sitting with them.  We also took my 9 hens and 1 rooster to live with my 2nd oldest daughter, Jordan.  I'm missing them so much though!  It just seems wrong to be throwing scraps down the garborater!!  I miss going out to collect the eggs and visit with my ladies.  

Then, there is the boys...or my horses, Rufus and Tucker.  They are going to a retirement home where they can live out their lives grazing and enjoying longer summers and milder winters.  I am going to miss them soooo much, I know.  But, it is time.  I know I'm going to cry, but right after we deliver them to their new home, we must rush back to the Shack to finish packing and then we're off.  This will probably be for the best as I won't have time to ponder them being gone.

For the next 3 months, I'll be posting from camp.  Then it'll be home to spend my hard earned money on more renos for the Shack!!  This I am looking forward to!

Just a few more days to finish getting our old travel trailer ready to roll, get the house cleaned, along with the yard, and we're off.  I'm already exhausted and I haven't even had to get up at 4:45am to make breakfast for 60 yet!!  I do love my job, but being away from the Shack is a pain.  I miss the leaves coming out, the flowers I've nurtured all bloom and become overgrown....I come home to lots of weeds and only 1 month of summer. 

Well, no time to dilly dally!  My next upate will be from camp!  Til then!

Our summer home on the move to our next camp location. Yes, that's me at the wheel.

My kitchen on wheels at sunset.

Green Onions Forever!

I don't usually buy green onions.  They aren't something I use very often.  But, when my in laws stopped in at the Shack for an overnight stay, my MIL asked if she could make us wonton soup.  She had been making it fairly often and was eager to share some with us.  Not cook!?  Sure!!  So, they arrived with all the necessary ingredients and she made us a delicious meal!
After they had gone, I realized that she had left any perishable ingredients in my fridge for us to use.  One of these was a bag of green onions.  I had seen on Pinterest that you could re-grow green onions in water and continue to 'harvest' them as you needed.  Well, being a homeschooling mom, I decided we should do an 'experiment' with these and try it out!
So, here is what our green onions looked liked on March 29th.

I snipped the dry tops off of them, and the majority of the 'roots'.  I've been adding fresh water every few days, dumping the old when it gets murky and refilling it.
Now, here is what they look like today,  2 weeks later!

 Check out those roots! Lots of growth!   I've been snipping off a piece here and there and using it in scrambled eggs, salads, stir fries...and loving it!  This was such a success, we decided to try it with celery as well.  This is after only a few days and already the centre is re-growing!

It probably won't be as useful as the green onions, as we need a lot more celery than what one little crop can produce, unless of course we go into high production and set up a whole window sill of them!  But, that's not going to happen, so we'll just have to keep buying it.
So, there you go!  An easy way to keep your household supplied with fresh green onions and all it costs is what you'll pay for the first bunch!!  And hey!  It didn't even cost me that, 'cause MIL supplied them!

The Original Garden Broom- A Review

My first encounter with this garden broom was on Christmas Eve 2012.  On a last minute run to town, I happened to notice this lovely looking broom in the window of our local Home Hardware store.  It was intriguing enough for me to head into the store to check out.  

I am so glad I did!  Upon examination, the bristles on this broom are very stiff and thick compared to most brooms.  They are brown and obviously of a natural fiber.  The best way to describe this broom is to say -it looks like a witch should be riding it!  In fact, as I was carrying it down the street after purchasing it, a man asked me if I was going to ride it home!  I cackled at him and said I was most definitely going to be riding it and he better watch out 'cause Santa wasn't going to be the only one in the sky tonight!

Upon arriving home at the Shack, I couldn't wait to try it out...Not riding it, silly!  I pulled off the cardboard sleeve around the bristles and began sweeping the snow that had blown onto the front steps and porch.  WOW!  I was in love!!  The bristles are stiff enough to move the snow, even the stuff that has been stomped into the wood of the stairs.  Then I tried it on the snow that had come down that day onto the path to the stairs.  The walk had been shoveled  and then had gravel sprinkled on it.  The problem with having snow all winter is you do have to keep shoveling the new stuff as it falls. Other wise it becomes a bigger, heavier job. This broom made short work of the new snow on the packed trail, and left behind the gravel that was embedded in the old snow, so I didn't need to reapply it! Double WOW!

I have happily swept snow off the deck all winter while dreaming of spring and the time I would be able to start the yard clean up around the Shack.  It's amazing how a great product makes all the difference in how you feel about doing the job it involves.  I actually loved using my broom!!  

Fast forward to my recent trip to Vancouver Island to await the arrival of my oldest daughter's 2nd baby.  I was there for 3 weeks, and in that time it rained...a lot....but, that's spring on the Island!  It's where I grew up and the place I still call 'home'.  I love the Island!  And I was happy to be able to be there for the birth of my 2nd grandbaby, Davy on March 3rd.  

While there, I stayed with my Mom and was able to help her get her garden into shape for spring, that is, after it stopped raining!  My mom is a wonderful lady!  I'm so proud to call her my Mom!  Her garden is one of her great loves, but in the past few years it has become a bit more than she can deal with on her own.  My dad has Alzheimer's and has been in a home for 2 years now, so she has had to deal with the house and garden on her own. Mom has done so much with the garden, but it needed a good clean up.  We began by getting the paved driveway and side yard swept and raked.  While I was doing the raking, Mom swept the driveway. I noticed (couldn't help but!) the broom she was using had certainly seen much better days.  I had to make a quick trip downtown, and snuck in a stop at the local Home Hardware.  I knew exactly what I was looking for and found it without any problem.  The Original Garden Broom!  I headed back to Mom's with my surprise.  I presented it to her and told her it was an early Birthday/Mother's Day gift, as my mom's birthday is May 13th and is always either on Mother's Day or very close.  

After just a few minutes of sweeping she was as thrilled with it as I am with mine!  It did an amazing job on the paving, getting into the edges where the paving meets the rock wall.  Sweeping up the leaves, pine needles and debris was a breeze!  Then the area around the front door where Mom has gathered round beach rocks, and where the leaves and pine needles get caught and are hard to remove was tackled.  Easy!  The broom's stiff bristles grab all the old tree stuff and pulled it out from between the rocks.  And don't get me started on the brick patio!  It cleaned the moss and anything else that had wedged itself between the bricks out and left it looking like the bricks had just been put down!  It was wonderful for sweeping the bark mulch clean of leaves, and the deck was cleaned up ready to be power washed in no time.  Mom says she plans to go and buy another one...she never wants to have to be without one!

As you can tell, I LOVE this broom!  I highly recommend it! 
The Original Garden Broom is made from fallen coconut branches.  It comes to North America from Sri Lanka and is environmentally friendly and ethically traded.  They first were marketed in Vancouver, BC by the mother-daughter team of Fran and Maria (Franmar International Importers) and are now available in the US as well. Click here for the list of places you can pick one up.

Just to be clear...I am doing this review because I am so impressed with this product and not because I have been paid by the company. In fact, they don't even know! lol!

Spring Snow!

Two Dark-Eyed Juncos waiting their turn at the feeder.

After a week of beautiful, warm, sunny spring weather, we are being hit with winter again.  Today is the 2nd day in a row we've had snow.  After a snow blizzard yesterday morning, the day ended up turning back to spring and I was able to get out and do some raking and garden prep.  But..this morning when I looked out into the yard...snow...on the ground!  Yeesh!  It is still coming down and the weather forecast is for it to continue all day.  At least I know this is pretty normal.  Last year on April 15th we had snow....

April 15th, 2012

This April, the winter snow has melted fast with our week of 'real' spring weather, so the old piles of snow around the property are fewer and the ones left are smaller.  I found all kinds of green shoots popping up around the garden and yard yesterday...even some that were still half covered with snow!  God's world is amazing!  

Here are some wintry snaps from today.  Even though I'd rather be outside in my yard, the fresh snow is still a lovely thing!  

Yesterday morning- April 6th.

Today from the deck.

Muffin in a Minute!-recipe

As you may, or may not, know, I'm following the New Atkins for a New You diet.  It is basically a low carb diet where you start out with only 20 grams of carbs a day in what they call the Induction Level, then after 2 or more weeks you slowly add 5 grams at a time back into your daily diet until you reach a level where your body is comfortable and you can maintain your weight.   I'm still in the Induction Level, and not finding it too difficult to follow.  I am guilty of turning to bread when I'm feeling hungry. It's quick, filling and tasty.  Not having anything to eat but veggies, salads and meat can be a little dull, but someone, somewhere came up with this amazing little recipe for those times when you just really want something more bread-like.  I really enjoy it with my eggs in the morning, or for a snack later on.  Try it and see what you think!  It's gluten free, salt free and very easy to make!

Muffin In A Minute

Here are the ingredients you'll need:

1/4 Cup Ground Flax

1 Egg

1/2tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp. Butter

1 pkt. Splenda or ?

A Mug and a wee bit of Oil.

I forgot to put the Splenda in the snap! Oops!

1. Put a tiny bit of oil into the mug and use a paper towel to swish it all around.  I do this just to make sure my muffin slides out easily.

2. Add all the dry ingredients to the mug and stir with a fork. You can add loose Splenda or any other sugar substitute instead of the packaged kind. You can also add more sweetener if you prefer it sweeter.

3.Add the egg and the butter and stir well with the fork.

  

4.Microwave 1 minute or more (mine works best at 1 minute and 20 seconds, but it will depend on your microwave).

5. Turn mug upside down onto a plate.  It should slip out easily.

6. Cut in half, butter and enjoy!  Of course, you can add jam or jelly if you aren't dieting.  

This contains just 3 grams of carbs.

I hope you'll try this recipe. Easy and fast!