Seven Quick Takes (no. 6)

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I am 19 weeks pregnant. We had our ultrasound this week and our little one is growing well. No, we don't know if it's a boy or girl; we like surprises. My due "time" is the end of February, beginning or March. It feels like there is lots to think about and prepare for before this little one joins our family.

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With the weather cooling, I seem to be spending more time in the kitchen. Keeping everyone supplied with a fresh bread, muffins and cookies is a task I enjoy doing at this time of year. Right now I have a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies from Chewy, Gooey, Crispy, Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies in the oven. Yum!

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Our raw milk herd share has been cancelled. It was sad news to receive. There is an interesting article on raw milk over on well preserved: Raw Milk No Longer Legal in Ontario – History of Canadian Dairy and a Global Perspective. If we lived in the country, I would love to have a cow of our own.

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Tomorrow, October 1st, is the feast of St. Terese de Lisieux. I'm planning to make a fancy French feast to celebrate the life of this amazing woman of God. Elisa is also hosting a St. Terese Link-Up!

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I started taking violin lessons again. I took lessons for a year but stopped after Sweetpea was born. I really enjoy music and like the challenge of learning a new instrument.

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It has been a while since I've linked up to Ginny's Yarn Alongs. I'm knitting like a lot but over the last few months I have been so tired with being pregnant that blogging has taken a hit.

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The month of October is an exciting one. So many feasts to celebrate and such beautiful Fall changes to see and explore.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Fall Kindling and Baby Rabbit Rescue

We keep our rabbits outdoors. This limits us to when we are able to breed them. When we are in the dead of winter, no rabbits breed. The risk of losing a litter, no matter how well built the nest, is too high and the stress incurred by the does and ourselves is not worth the risk. The last litters are born in September or early October. Unfortunately, the weather is already getting quite chilly.

Our four does kindled last week. Two of them made beautiful nests, thickly stuffed with hay and lined with a lovely layer of pulled fur. Their kits (baby rabbits) have done well. The other two does didn't prepare well enough and kindled their litter in the middle of the night right by the nest box door with no fur to cover them. The litters died. This is a reality of raising rabbits. It's frustrating.

The two does that lost their litters were re-bred. They will be due at the end of October which will be colder I'm sure. We do have a heated shed so they will be moved there to kindle. Normally, we don't do this but one of the does is getting older and we really want to get a couple does from her to breed next spring.

One thing we've discovered in the last few years of raising rabbits is that some does aren't good moms. We give a doe three fair chances. If after three breedings the doe continues to scatter or eat her young the she will become dinner. It may sound harsh but the cost of keeping a doe and the space she takes is significant when your have a small rabbitry.

Another problem we've encountered is our nest boxes are flawed. The door for the box is too low and occasionally a kit will fall out. This has happened twice in the last two days. We lost one little kit yesterday. This morning when I looked out the window I saw another small black form on the cage floor. My heart sank as I ran outside. Luckily, it was still alive, but barely. I took the kit and plunged its body in a sink full of warm warm. After it warmed up, I dried it off and placed it on my skin sort of like kangaroo care. It was a successful baby rabbit rescue!

Autumnal Equinox

Today is the Autumnal Equinox and it marks the first day of Fall. Cooling weather, falling leaves and the sweet smell of autumn make me rush to finish up projects that are frost sensitive. A variety of herbs from my garden have been drying inside, while I've been busy at work preserving apples into juice, applesauce and dried apple rings. My Husband has purchased and stored hay for the winter and our rabbits are kindling for the last time this year. Since snow can arrive early and unexpected in these parts, winterization has already begun. There are still many tasks to do but eventually some plants will get dug up (dalias and gladiolus) and brought it while others will get planted (garlic, lilies, tulips), the rabbit shelter will get walled up, gardens will be cleared, compost spread, and a host of other tasks will get finished.

As I think of all the tasks that need to be accomplished, I've been reading The Rhythm of the Family by Amanda Blake Soule and Stephen Soule. For each month of the year, the Soules share stories and ideas for recognizing and celebrating the changing seasons. The book inspires families to explored nature and be creative. It's a beautiful book and I'm hoping to get my own copy (I'm reading a library copy). For the month of September, the book offers the idea of making a harvest journal. Last year I recorded what I put up in jars (canning) which was very helpful for this year's canning. This year, I'm inspired to take it a step further, and make note of what was harvested from my (very small) garden as well as what was foraged, and preserved by dehydrating and freezing.

As Fall begins what sort of activities are happening around your home?

About Pressure Canning

To most, pressure canning seems like a dangerous and complicated task. Something like detonating a series of fireworks without getting singed. There are stories that feed the fear of pressure canning. My husband's aunt suffered serious burns after a canner exploded in her face. My friend's canner bulged out while under pressure and started rocking back and forth on the stove - eek!

For those interested in canning, water bath canning is a good place to start. But more experienced canners might meet their quota of fruit, pickles, jams, preserves, jellies etc. and start wondering about canning low acid foods. Canning foods low in acid, like vegetables (without acid i.e. pickling), meats, and seafood, must be done using a pressure canner. This is the only safe way to ensure that harmful bacteria, such as botulism spores, are completely and utterly destroyed. The National Center for Food Preservation has reliable instructions for pressure canning a variety of foods.

The first time I used my pressure canner was to can chicken stock. Walking carefully through the process of pressure canning demystifies the task. The key is to read the instructions and become familiar with your canner and the guidelines around canning food.

It's also important to invest in a good canner. Something reliable and well made. I invested in a 21 Quart All American Pressure Canner. It can pressure can 7 quarts or 19 pints at a time. A friend of mine purchased a pressure canner with other family members. This is a great way to split the cost as long as you get along with your family.

Pressure canning creates many new opportunities to can food. Unfortunately, the cost of getting a decent pressure canner isn't cheap. It's an investment. A particularly handy investment for the "end-of-the-world" scenario. Not I'm a doomsayer... but consider a pressure canner a personal, portable bunker... for your head. Until that day our pressure canner will mostly be used for canning homemade soup, stew, stock, and tomatoes. Note: Tomatoes can also be water bath canned provided a little lemon juice is added to each jar to ensure the tomatoes are acidic enough. 

Teaching the Alphabet

Sometime between the age of two and five, your little one will start to show interested in learning about letters. There are many different ways of teaching the alphabet. Some say that you should teach upper case letters before lower case letters, others claims learning lower case first is better because most letters children see are lower case. Learning both upper and lower case at the same time is an option too. There are discussions about whether the little one should learn the alphabet in order, or learn letters randomly or in a non-traditional yet significant sequence. Montessori teachers might use Sand Paper Letter Cards to teach letter sounds. Those of the unschooling philosophy might not teach their little one the alphabet at all, but rely instead of a lot of reading exposure to teach their little one letters. Who knew there were so many options to learning the alphabet!

Some little ones will have no problems learning the alphabet and might self-teach themselves at an early age. Others not so much. Every child is different. Monkey is now 3.5 years old. I reflected on whether or not I should start teaching him about letters. I don't think Monkey would benefit from structured teaching for quite a while. But, I've noticed that he's starting to show some interest in letters.

I decided to go through the alphabet with him very slowly and to use fun interactive activities and books to learn about different letters. I'm using Along the Alphabet Path as my source of inspiration. It's a Catholic alphabet adventure for little ones. To learn more go to A Tutorial for the Alphabet Path. There are some wonderful alphabet resources on this site. To be honest, I haven't delved into all the information and resources that there are on the website. Some suggestions seem too complicated for Monkey but there ideas for all levels of alphabet learners. As we go along, I'll try to share with you our alphabet journey.

What are you thoughts on or experiences with teaching your little one the alphabet?

Why I Left Facebook

I recently made the decision to deactivate my Facebook account. I had been considering deactivation for several months now.

Facebook. Social networking giant. Home to over 750 million active users that spend 700 billion minutes a month interacting with friends, events, group and various pages (reference). When I joined Facebook, I just did. Everyone does. I added friends, joined groups, updated my profile and posted pictures and updates.

Facebook is a tool. It can be a great tool for organizing events and staying in touch with people. Moms can join groups to sell or buy used baby or children items, learn about local events for little ones or meet other moms for play-dates. Thrifty people can learn about deals and get coupons. Facebook can be really helpful for people new to a city. I meet another mom on Facebook and started a book club, through which I've meet some lovely people. With all the advantages of Facebook it's easy to see why there are so many users. But, do all these advantages have a positive enough impact on day-to-day life to justify spending so much time on Facebook. After some reflection, I've decided no it does not.

Negativity. Most of the time I go on Facebook I read status updates on my newsfeed. Over time I've found that a large percentage of Facebook status updates (from individuals) have a negative tone: ranting, complaining, bragging. Sure, those kind of status updates are interesting to read and everyone needs a rant every once in a while. But, constant negativity starts to affect the way you view people. Yes, many status updates are neutral, useful and even positive (birth announcements) but the negativity seems to overshadow the positive. At least, I find this true for myself.

Artificiality. Snooping. Looking into someones life without them knowing. It's thrilling, and disturbing. Privacy settings can restrict some snooping, but not all. The problem with snooping is that you start to feel like you are spending time with someone and that you are getting to know them. This can create a sort of artificial relationship that can stand in the way of developing a real relationship with a person. When I first joined Facebook I touted the benefits of "reconnecting" with people. The reality is I can't think of one person I truly "reconnected" with. I have meet some new people though Facebook but not as many as you might expect.

Addiction. The first things I do when I sit at the computer are check email and Facebook. I get sucked into Facebook by aimlessly browsing my newsfeed. For the most part, I don't glean anything that I will remember the next day, or the next hour for that matter. Not every moment of the day must be productive, sometimes we need to unwind and Facebook can be great for this. But, there are many other things that I could do instead.

Misunderstandings. People can read into status updates too much or sometimes not enough. Sometimes people write things they would never say in person to the crowd of people they call their Facebook Friends. Feelings get hurt. People get stressed. Real life already has enough of this, why do we need more of it in our lives.

For me, sans-Facebook will be better. Our relationship is artificial and unhealthy. Spending time away from Facebook will allow me more time to invest my energy into cultivating real relationships with people while sparing me the stress of the negativity and misunderstandings that can accompany Facebook.

What are your thoughts? Is Facebook a wonderful tool or leaves something to be desired? Am I crazy for leaving Facebook or right to take a second look at this social networking giant?

Apple Picking Time + Preserving Apples

Around this time last year we were hard at work picking and pressing apples to make apple cider. With the recent passing of my Hubby's grandmother our apple picking plans got changed. We did gather several large buckets of apples from our own apple tress, but it wasn't enough to justify renting an apple crusher and press. So, for this year I'm preserving apples in other ways.

Apple Juice: You want to start with apples of course, but the paths you can take to turn your apples to apple juice are many. You can cook the apples, then strain them (instructions here), use an electric juicer, an apple press or steam juicer. This year I'm using a steam juicer. It's great tool for smaller batches of fruit but a little slow for juicing buckets of apples. I wish I had my own apple press. Once your apples are juiced you can freeze the juice or can it. My freezers are full and I dislike thawing bags of frozen juice so I opted for canning this year.

Apple Jelly: The great thing about apple jelly is you don't need to use pectin to make it. Apples are already quite high in pectin. Simply add sugar, boil away until you get to the gel point and you've made jelly. Granted it takes a little time and patience but it's worth it. I use an apple jelly recipe from The Joy of Jams, Jellies and Sweet Preserves.

Apple Sauce: Start by cooking your apples with a little water to prevent scorching. Once cooked pass the apples through a food mill or a China Cap. You can keep apple sauce in the fridge, freeze it or can it.

Dried apples: When I get tired of juicing, saucing and canning I turn to the dehydrator or oven. Drying apples doesn't take much prep, which is nice, but it does take a while before they are ready. Once the apples dried they disappear fast, so be warned!

Any apple preserving ideas you'd like to share?

Canning Peaches

In my perfect preserving world, everything I'd preserve would be organic, locally grown and cheap (or free). Living in the North makes it difficult to get certain fruit locally, never mind organic or even cheap for that matter. I was fortunate enough to can some locally (to my friend's home) grown organic apricots a few weeks ago when we went a little ways South to visit our friends.

But when I go to the grocery store I gaze longingly at the cases of peaches waiting to be canned. Usually, I stop myself from buying them when I think of how pesticide laden they must be. Last weekend I could resist no longer. I bought just one case (for now) figuring that if there was any sort of disaster canned peaches would be a valuable asset to have on hand, pesticides and all. Canning the peaches was a labour of love. I got burnt a few times, no surprise there, and I created a sauna in my house, but those peaches look so darn good in their jars I'm happy that I decided to do it after all.

Returned

We have returned. Our family had some vacation time. We made plans to go South and visit our friends and family. Unfortunately, my Hubby's Grandmother had a stroke and passed away so we found ourselves driving North instead of South.

Before going North we did sneak in a quick visit with a couple dear friends and then restocked our bags at home for the long trip North. But, when we returned home for this quick stopover we discovered a little critter had moved in - a mouse. Thanks to a peanut butter trap the little mouse moved out of our house.

Up North we spent our time with family celebrating the 80th birthday of Hubby's uncle and mourning the loss of dear Grandmaman. Grandmaman lived a long and beautiful life. She had ten children and has many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Hearing about her life made me think about many things and how so much has changed in the last century.

While Hubby still has some time off we were too exhausted to continue on so we returned home. Travelling with little ones is worth it but can be very draining. Now that we're home, I'm thinking of all the project I want to start or continue... more about that later.