California, Here We Come!

What a busy week! Trying to get a few things done around here, plus packing the ole camper for 4 weeks of living in.

Da Wolf, Gman and I are taking off this morning! Weeeeeeee! We'll all be packed into an 11 foot camper....Nooooooooo! (Ever been in very close quarters with a wet Wolf? Ewwwww.....)

We'll first be seeing the kids in Surrey (even the Eman and JP are heading over!). Plus, the Nman apparently has bought his Mama a laptop!

The Gman says he will bring his wireless mouse, to lessen the screaming and yelling from my end with having to work the touchpad, lol. Smart guy, always thinking, he is....

This blog is supposed to be about our Country Living lifestyle and so, I don't want to start posting trip pics on here. Bad enough I have diverted to include all my fighting with breast cancer, but I am drawing the line here.

So, we've started a new blog for our trip. Here's the link...

http://drivingthecaliforniacoast.blogspot.com/

So, if you're interested please click on the link above and then save it to your Favourites....

Now, give me a bit of time to get started on it ok? Here's hoping the laptop, memory stick and wireless mouse work well for computer illiterate Annie!!

Tentatively, we plan on getting across the border later today. By Monday sometime, we hope to pull into Jim and Linda's driveway in Northern California. After we leave them, we'll drive out to the Coast, and start south.

Oh and btw, Linda, I'm bringing my gardening gloves....I'm feeling an itch to play in some dirt! Sphere: Related Content

Wine Making/Seed Starting Room - Part 3

Finally getting a new post up about the room progress! So, here's the sink we put in....

It turned out to be pretty difficult finding a tap set that would fit on this old sink. We even got in touch with a few plumbing shops in the US that deal with antique fixtures. We couldn't find anything that would fit properly. And if we did, it would have cost us quite a bit of money.

So, the Gman bought an ordinary laundry tub tap set and then he MADE the "box" for it to sit on! He is Amazing! 

I think it looks great! He was glad to get that part of the job finished!

And...he got the plumbing finished. So, now we have water in the room! That will come in very handy when it comes to watering all the seedlings that will be there soon!

We'll keep plugging away on this room when we get home from our trip....but we're very Glad it's this far along!!

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California vs. Joel Salatin - Results!

 Later on today, I'm going to try to get Part 3 of the Wine Making/Seedling Room up here on the blog. But, for starters.....


The poll is now closed regarding going to California OR going to hear Joel Salatin talk, or a combo of both. 0 votes strictly for California. 4 votes came in for going to hear Joel. The majority of the votes were for us to try to combine both....a shorter trip to California, then zipping up North from our home to get to see Joel.


So...we've decided to try to do both! I've sent our info in and hopefully we will get tickets. Maybe we will see Joanne there, as she mentioned she is going too!


I had a really interesting email over the weekend from Kari, here it is.

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Hi Annie,



We had a terrific week end all because of you! When you posted about your dilemma of deciding between California and Joel Salatin, I thought to look at his site and try to help with the decision!


Well, I thought the end of May in Australia would be perfect for you and then you get a vacation and Joel, all in one...then my eyes caught "Medford, Oregon, February 19"! Medford is just 40 minutes away and after my heart clunked around inside for a beat or two, it turned out the 19th was a few days away, there were tickets available and Tim wanted to go too!


We drove over Friday evening to listen to Joel Salatin and the high school auditorium had seating for just under 800 people. It was just about packed. There were people standing along the walls and two or three open seats sprinkled in the mass of farmers and growers and buyers and supporters of great food and great growing goodness!


Joel's first talk was Building a Local Food System that Works, and lasted about 30 minutes. There was a short break and then Joel himself was calling folks back in to their seats! ("let's go people...two minutes...hurry up now, find your seat...Ok, we are starting!!") and then he began his talk on Everything I want to do is Illegal! Wow that was a great one. We were both transfixed on his every word, the time flew by and pretty soon it was after 9:00 pm. Joel blessed the audience and then he was gracious enough to take some questions. It all ended about 9:30 pm.


Joel Salatin is a very engaging speaker. He is honest, and witty, and intelligent, and a great story teller. He also understands farmers! We purchased two of his books, You Can Farm, and Pastured Poultry Profits, plus we picked up his video. Each one is a treasure in itself, but the real gem was hearing him speak, listening to his wisdom and experience and being present with an individual who is motivated by doing the right thing.


I hope you get the chance to work out the combination of both Joel Salatin and California as a celebration of you, your dear husband, and your winning battle against cancer!



So, thanks to you and your wonderful blog for a great week end.
 
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What awesome feedback from an audience member! When we go to see him, I want to buy the Salad Bar Beef book of Joel's. I already have Pastured Poultry Profits, and have read his others at the library.
 
Thanks everyone who took part in the poll, you've helped us make our decision! And thanks Kari, for being so supportive of our blog! Sphere: Related Content

The Incredible Egg

(Hmmmm, I wrote up this post in February of 2009. In looking thru my Edit Posts, it seems like it got saved as a Draft and never did get published...strange...oh well, here it is!)

We Love Eggs! Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em.....and they're good for us too! Mother Earth News had a great article about free range eggs. Did you know eggs raised on pasture in general have:

1/3 less cholesterol

1/4 less saturated fats

2/3 more Vitamin A

2 times more Omega-3 fatty acids

3 times more Vitamin E

7 times more Beta Carotene

Than store bought eggs, coming from confined chickens? Yes, true....head over to this link to read all about free range eggs.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-10-01/Tests-Reveal-Healthier-Eggs.aspx

 

If you place a regular store bought egg next to a farm egg, you can see the difference clearly! (I'd show ya, but of course I don't have store bought eggs)

 

The farm egg will have a brighter yolk (often more orange in colour) and the yolk will stand wayyyy Up on the plate.

Compare that with the flat pale yolk of a store bought egg.

 

The reason for the darker more vibrant colour in the yolk, is because the chickens are out there free ranging, eating lots of greens.

So, since tomorrow is Egg Day around here, I got them all washed up today. I'll pass them around tomorrow afternoon....

I Don't wash the eggs when I pick them up from the hen house. There is a natural bloom on the egg....if you have ever seen a hen lay an egg, you will notice the wet covering on the egg (it dries quickly tho!) That moist layer is called the "bloom". This helps preserve the egg.

I store all the eggs in our cold room. You don't need to store your eggs inside the fridge. Any cool place will do. (Don't store them on your counter!) Since we keep our cold room around 40 degrees, it works just fine. If it does get colder in there, I will lay a towel over the eggs. Eggs will easily last 2 months in the cold room.

To test the freshness of eggs, put them in a pan of water....if they float, they're too old. Feed those off to your dogs or back to your chickens. Just Cook them up first tho, you don't want to feed raw eggs to the hens, as it can lead to bad habits....yes, they LOVE eating raw eggs. Ever dropped an egg in front of your hens? Stand back!

 

I wash the eggs when they are ready to go out the door. Only the ones that Need washing get cleaned. I just use a cloth soaked in warm water, then wrung out well.

I don't sort my eggs either, some people do, but I don't bother....and no one has ever raised a complaint with that. The people get them in the same order I pull them out of the henhouse....so there's always a couple really big ones and usually one small one.

Then there are these.....

We don't know which hen lays these, but we call her Wavy....every day she lays an egg, and every day it has waves and ridges in the shell....frankly, I think that would hurt, but she never fails to give us an egg!

Another one of Wavy's eggs....

 

Some eggs are speckled, others have lighter lines running thru them....

Here's one of the best parts about our eggs. You CAN'T close the carton! That's how big some of these eggs are....and the carton they are sitting in is a Large Egg carton from the grocery store!

To transport them, I will put towels in between the egg cartons, to protect them from breaking. I can't stack them of course.

Free ranged hens raised on a farm in the fresh air, sunshine, chasing bugs - those are going to lay the Best eggs ever!

Get a rooster if you want to let some hens go broody and sit on eggs to raise chicks. We buy our chickens ready to lay, so we don't need a rooster.

We had one for awhile last year....damn thing! Not only did he crow at ALL hours of the day and night....he was way too rough with the girls. I mean no compassion at all. Seeing my hens going into winter with feathers missing, skin ripped....no thank you! He went into the stew pot!

BTW, if you want to increase the Omega 3 content in your eggs, add some flax seed to your hens food....just a bit.

Oh, one more thing....no matter how tempted you are, don't pick up an egg and put it in your jacket pocket. Murphy's Law dictates that as SOON as you do this and walk away from the coop, you will find something that needs to be done, picked up, a weed pulled....something will happen to make you forget you have an egg in your pocket! Ask me how I know :)

If you've never had to either wash your jacket because of a broken egg....or heard it crack and try to whip it out of your pocket before it starts ooooozing....well, let's keep it that way!

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Wine Making/Seed Starting Room - Part 2

Soooooo....once I got that wall all painted, the Gman attached the shelving unit to the wall. Once the room is done, we'll use this for storage for the wine making equipment.

The other counter unit has been fixed to the wall. We'll use that for seed starting, as well as for working with beer and wine.

While I was painting, the Gman started work on the sink and counter station. See that drawer unit on the left? We've been toting that dayum thing around for years.

Oh! So that's where that license plate was! We have been looking for it for awhile now!! Amazing what you can find when you start cleaning and organizing!

One day, while we were at the local dump, we noticed a fellow with a good looking counter top in the back of his pick up. We asked him if he was dumping it. He said Yup, do you want it?

Uh...yes please! We got it home and the Gman cut it into pieces, which we will use for the "ends" of the sink station. Free is good!!!

We've also been toting around a box of white 6 x 6 inch tiles from Gman's Dad. We're finally going to use them to make a backsplash behind the sink station. We think we have enough tiles to do 3 rows high.

And....our sink. This sink was laying on the ground at our neighbours. The owners were going to take it to the dump along with a bunch of other stuff the previous owners left laying around outside. We asked them if we could have it! They didn't want anything for it, but in the end, we were able to give them a dozen eggs for it.

I'd say we got the better end of that deal! The sink has built in drainboard sides. This will work great in the new room!

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House Reno - Wine Making/Seed Starting Room

If you've been reading for awhile, you may remember this picture. This is our Seedling Room down in the basement.

You can see all the lights the Gman set up - he hangs them on chains and wires, so we can move the lights up and down as needed.

The White counters were used in one of the bedrooms when the previous owners lived here.

When we moved in, we ripped them out, and like everything extraneous, down to the basement they went.

You may already know that we make our own beer and wine. We use our own fruit (and wild gathered) to make our wine. As a result, our kitchen counters often hold a carboy or two.....or a jug or two...or a primary fermenter or two....

well, you get the picture. And...we really dislike that. We both dislike not being able to use all our kitchen counter space for food and meal prep.

(Plus, it makes us look like winos....)

Not only do we have wine making stuff in the kitchen, it's also in our dining room area, close to the woodstove. We don't much like that either!

Soooo...we're in the process of turning the Seedling Room into a Wine/Beer Making/Seed Starting Room. (Now, That's a Mouthful!)

We started by moving the shelves out of the way....

I started painting. I HATE OSB! I think it looks cheap cheap cheap. But we have it on the walls already, and didn't feel like forking out to turn it all into wall board. So I painted it....white.

On the left in the pic, is the new sink station the Gman started building....dayum, he's handy! When it's finished, this room will be versatile - we can still use it for starting seeds, plus it will have plumbing. No more lugging water downstairs!!!

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Blotanical Site Problems?

Or...is it just me? I can't get into Blotanical at all....are any readers out there able to get in? Sphere: Related Content

Radiation Roundup

Finally, the very last pictures (hopefully) of the struggle I have been going thru with my enemy breast cancer.

I've had quite a few emails from women encouraging me to continue posting about my treatments. And while I did wonder whether I should put pictures like these up on this blog, readers encouragement made the decision for me.

It's only thru awareness, education and research that we can keep fighting this disease. So if you don't wanna look...well, don't look! Not that the pictures are gruesome at all, but they do outline the radiation procedure.

Two members of my radiation teaming being willing to pose for a pic they knew would go up on the blog.  I've had the most wonderful caring team - it takes special kinds of people to do the job they do!

The big bugger, ready and waiting for me.

In the foreground you can see my table. The staff assemble and change around all the parts necessary for patients to have their treatment (and they do it pretty quick too! ) You can see those farkin' stirrup looking things. Those are for me to fit my arm into. I hate them! They hurt me!

So, while they were setting things up, I was telling them about the blog. The asked me if I wanted them to take pictures while I was "in place". It didn't take long till they got right into it!

Annie and her red chest. They designed a bolus to fit onto my chest. Google it if you want to know why :)

Wasn't long till the team were thinking of different pictures to take. Hey, why don't we take one with the lights off, so everyone can see the laser lights????

Ummmm.....okay

Hey, I said. don't forget about ME. Can you come get the tape off my arm, so I can lower it down.

(It was really hurting by then!)

And here is what I looked at all the while treatment was going on. These panels replace the ceiling panels that you usually see in a drop ceiling. Can you guess which bird I am???? If you know much about me, you will be able to guess!

 If these don't make you wanna do a self exam, well, they should! Do your exam and do it regularly. You don't wanna have this.....

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Who Will Light the Cauldron at Tonite's Olympic Opening Ceremony?

A new Poll is over on the right sidebar. You've only got 5 hours to make your vote count!!

Who's going to light the cauldron tonite in Vancouver to open the 2010 Winter Olympics?

The choices are:

Wayne Gretzky (good ole'99)

Betty Fox (the Mother of Terry Fox who began a cross country run in 1980, to raise awareness and funding for cancer research.

Bryan Adams (well, everyone knows who that Vancouver boy is!) Sphere: Related Content

I'M GOING HOME TODAY!!!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee........I'm as excited as a little kid on Christmas morning!!!

As giddy as a schoolgirl.....

As happy as a pig in....well, you know...

I'm clucking like a hen who just laid a huge egg.....

And when I drive down my driveway, this is what will be waiting for me!!!!!

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Goodbye to a Good Friend - Rob Akerley

One of Graham's closest friends passed away Thursday, February 4. They have been buddies since they were teenagers, back in Port Alberni. We're shocked and saddened by Rob's passing.

Rob was an avid outdoorsman...he Loved Hunting and Fishing and hanging out in the woods.

Rob leaves behind two teenaged sons....Justin and Braden. He will be sorely missed.

At our Wedding....Don, (another really good friend of Graham and Rob), me, Graham and Rob

The Three Amigos....don't they look like fine upstanding men?

And...about 10 seconds after the previous pic was taken.

They were obviously faking it in the other picture.

Good times!

We'll miss you Rob!

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It's Been a Heck of a Week - Radiation Update (and a bit of good news)

Ouch! OUCH!!!

I have 3 more treatments to go....I'll make it thru, but am losing my positive attitude.

You'll understand more when you read the posts going up today. But, let me start with the medical update....OUCH!

I am sooo burnt, and my chest is soooo red and sore. There is concern from hospital staff that my skin under my armpit is going to give way.....waaaaaa

This is not that uncommon....I just don't want it to happen to ME. Friday they told me, if it happens over the weekend, to NOT put cream on the opened area, but just all around it.

Grossed out yet? Yeah, I know I am and I'm the one looking in the mirror. Well, I try to avoid the mirror when I come out of the shower, but I am supposed to keep an eye on the burnt area. So, I try to detach myself from my body, give a cursory look, then put a shirt on.

I can't wear anything I have to pull over my head. I don't know why I didn't realize this when I packed to come to Kelowna, but I didn't. So, what did I do? Packed about 10 pullover sweaters and sweatshirts and packed 1, yes 1 button up jean shirt.

Oh and my pajama top buttons up too....I wear my pajamas a LOT these days, ha! 4pm in the afternoon....oh goodie, time to get my jammies on.

During treatment, I have to put my arm up above my head so that the machine radiates my armpit. OUCH! Fark, does that hurt!

I'm doing saline soaks 4 times a day now. I wonder if there is a limit of how many times per day I can do this. It does make the area feel better. I will have to find out tomorrow if I can do it more often.

I'm hesitant to do Anything without asking permission first. It is amazing the things you are NOT allowed to do, or use. Ask first....I feel like a kid. Actually, I'm probably going to revert to sucking my thumb if this doesn't end soon.

I may or may not end up back in my Valley Wednesday night. This is dependent on other things right now. I may stay here for a few extra days. Fine by me....at least I can say Adios to the treatments and sit here and suffer on my own.

Tomorrow evening, I am going to try and bake a whole whack (how many is a whack? I dunno, maybe 4 dozen) of cookies. Tuesday I am going to bring them in to the Volunteer Drivers, who have helped me immensely during these last 5 weeks. The attitude and compassion of these men (bar 1, who you may hear about later) is incredible. Thank God for each of you, I mean that. Hope you like cookies! And a donation cheque, too, to do my part in keeping this program going!

And now for the good news....my good friend Barb, is now a Grandmother! Baby was born yesterday Feb 6...mom and baby are doing great. I'm hoping Barb gets permission to let me put up a pic when I get it. Congrats Grandmaaaa!!! Sphere: Related Content

A Hearty Easy Meal for $5

Here's an easy peasy meal that is Really Inexpensive....if my sons read this post, they'll remember this meal from when they were growing up! I still make it, because the Gman and I just love it!!

Actually, anyone who's every had this Soup just loves it! It's healthy, really hearty and at certain times of the month (as in just before payday) an inexpensive meal is... well... needed.

You know how sometimes it's not a matter of having money at the end of the month....it's a matter of having month left at the end of the money!

We've all been there.....right?

I use Ham in this Soup. You can buy one of those thick Ham Steaks....cube it up. The more people that eat the soup, the smaller I cube the meat. Ha!

I use less than half a bag of Soup Mix...you know, those bags with lentils, peas and alphabet noodles. You'll find it in the grocery aisle with the dried lentils....

1 can of Tomato soup and a pot of water. I've made this Soup in my largest pot, and use 2 cans of Tomato Soup.

Put the water on to boil, and put the cubed ham in there. Let it boil for at least 20 minutes, more if you can....you want the water flavoured by the ham.....yummmmm

Then add your Tomato Soup, and some of the Soup Mix.  If I make it in my huge pot, I add half the bag...a little goes a pretty long way! Add parsley and whatever other herbs you like.

Give it a good stir, add in some salt and pepper and turn the element down to about 4. Give it a few more good stirs....maybe every 20 minutes or so. You don't want the Soup Mix sticking to the bottom of the pot.  Turn it down a bit more after about 45 minutes.....let the Soup thicken. You could easily set the element to 2, and go on with your day. Every time you walk thru the kitchen, just give it a stir.

Not ready to eat when the Soup is nice and thick? No problem, just add more water.

See how it thickens over time? It's smelling pretty darn good by this point. Serve with warm homemade bread or buns.

And...here's what it looked like the next day. This Soup is one of those recipes where it just tastes even better the following day! You can add more water, if you like and let it simmer again....

Guarenteed to satisfy Hungry Men and Teenage Boys!!

Enjoy! If you make this for your family, please don't forget to come back and let me know what you think!!

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Weaving!

Finally, here are some pictures we took while we were visiting with Julia. She's one of our blog readers and I'm so glad we've been able to meet her! Julia has lots of experience with weaving, and she gladly gave us a demonstration. After trying to understand the process, I sat down to give it a try!

See what I made? Ha! No, this is a beautiful woven cloth that one of Julia's friends made for her. The colours are gorgeous!

Julia's spinning wheel......

A close up of the pattern that Julia is working on now....it looks so intricate!

Her loom.....

First she explained all the different parts of the loom and what they do. Of course, now I can't remember some of the terms!

She sat down to give us a quick demo....here she is passing the shuttle from one side to the other.

And here I am, trying to do what she has just explained.....beat it, shuttle thru, beat it, change the wooden peg thingys for the next row. Oh, darn, what were those wooden things called? I shoulda taken notes!

I have a much better understanding of the process after I had given it a try myself. Then I got curious about patterns....how would you set up your loom with the pattern you are going to use???

So, Julia pulled out one of her patterns to walk me thru the process. She had even included a woven sample of the pattern. Organization, I tell ya!

See the block of squares up above the large pattern on the middle of the page? That is the pattern you would follow, in order to set up the loom for weaving.

It all seemed very complicated to me, but it did make more sense after I practiced.

After we were finished, Julia let us know that she has an extra loom that she really doesn't need. Would I be interested in taking it off her hands?

Well, after now thinking about it for a few days, I think I am going to take her up on her offer. I will find out how much she would sell the loom for. I can easily see me sitting up in the Valley, working on my loom! My Valley friend, with the goats and sheep, already get their sheep's wool spun, so I am pretty confident I can get wool from her to use.

Now I just need to go and get some library books on the weaving process, so I can start to learn more.

Thank you Julia, for your wonderful demonstration! When you read this, please just let me know what I missed and I will edit the post with your suggestions.

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