Christmas Family Greetings

The great big fist of winter has hit
Time to get out the scarves, hats and mits.
I find this year I don’t have as much time,
To figure out Christmas poems that rhyme.

But I’ll do my best to give you a clue,
About all that has happened and all that we do.
The first big thing I have to say,
Is I became ‘redundent’ and lost all my pay.

The College disappeared and so did my job,
It didn’t surprise me I didn’t even sob.
Businesses are closing in our little town,
But new ones are opening so I just won’t frown.

I’ve started my own called ‘Ye Olde Batt’
I’m milling wool, so how about that!
I’ve bought myself sheep and alpacas too,
Well you all know me, I need something to do.

So I am a shepherd with my very own flocks,
We give vaccines, clip nails and shear off their locks.
When I studied Philosophy at good old MUN,
I never thought I’d be having such fun.

The kids are impressed and Mike too, I think,
I do have to say that he didn’t even blink.
I want 2 alpacas, is what I first said,
But then they’re so cute, it just went to my head.

We have 16 animals, I’m breeding them now,
And Mike keeps on smiling, but he wants a sow.
I exclaimed, “You want a great ugly pig?
They’re smelly and gross and nasty and big!”

You’ll have to wait till I write next year’s poem,
or follow this blog as I grumble and moan,
I’m sure if he wants, we’ll have one next year,
Then our small farm will be really in gear.

Even Leah has gotten in on the farm,
“A horse,” she says, “A horse in the barn!”
She took up riding, on Rosie the mare,
with lessons each week, she hasn’t a care.

She has a good teacher and just loves to ride,
She sits on that horse with the greatest of pride.
Her school work too is good we can say,
We enter the teens this year and I pray!

Both of my girls give me wonderful pride,
They’re lovely and polite I cannot deny.
I worry the teen years will be a bad shock
But so far so good, my daughters just ‘rock’!

Shellsea too keeps on doing so well,
Her marks are tremendous, her art is just swell.
She wrote a story that gave me such pride,
Her talent is growing and can’t be denied.

So from this farm as the year passes by,
This Season of Light with God, is a joy,
We wish you all now, the gifts He bestows,
Joy, peace, and hope, with blessings that grow.

Merry Christmas with love from the Nichols Family

Ta Da

Here are the final results of all our renovations.

Ok so I like the red floor and especially with the new rug.



I added a little conversation area in the corner with the Christmas villiage above it in the window.



The computer is tucked nicely into the corner.



We always decorate the rail of the steps... it makes us feel like Christmas is all around us.



And finally the new table fits perfectly under the steps with the kitchen close by.
Perfect! I'm all done. How perfect is that?

Sleep In Heavenly Peace

The house has been in such a turmoil lately that I sometimes think that we will never get back to normal. I think that even the cats and dogs are beginning to feel the same way too. The cats slink around and every time there is a scrape of furniture they dive for the nearest safe spot. Duff, our big Wolf/Husky has taken to sleeping upstairs at the top of the steps as she wants to be near us but not when the house is so crazy.

Add into the mix, one large granddaughter dog, and you have complete chaos. A few years ago Duff found herself pregnant after a romantic interlude with a Black Lab. When the pups were born, we found that we had difficulty getting homes for all the them of which there were seven. Hubby began to plead with our friends to take a puppy. And so the Buddha odyssey began. Buddha belongs to very good friends of ours and when they agreed to take one of the puppies we agreed that we would dog sit when they travel..... they are now in New Zealand and we are stuck for the millionth time with another large dog in our very tiny house. It is -32 degrees and you can't leave her outside since she has short hair. Now over the years we have developed a way of dealing with this particular problem. Buddha sleeps under the steps. She completely disappears down there. But this time when she came to visit, the new kitten was not sure what to make of this new big dog.

Buddha is a wimp and so the cats and Tootsie have taken over her bed in this chaos.

On Sunday after the Daughters had a birthday party which they attended, we decided that the Christmas tree was necessary to add to the mix. The chaos in the house, was almost under control and we needed to add a tree to the craziness! Having found no tree in FSJ to buy that didn't look like it belonged in the house of the sevin dwarfs, we felt that we had better go looking for the perfect tree. Daughter #2 insisted that we cut a Pine and so it was while I was scarfing down breakfast that my eyes landed on the half eaten by a moose Pine tree that Hubby has been nursing along for the last three years. This tree (and several others in our yard) had been nibbled below the deer line (as I call it) three winters ago when the deer and moose were starving. When spring finally rolled around the tree and several others looked somewhat like a giant Q-Tip. A long spindly trunk with a tiny tuft of pine needles at the top. In three years the top has grown to quite a size. When I peered through the gloom on Sunday morning I spied that tree and made the decision to convince Hubby that with time so short before Christmas, it would be a good tree for our Christmas celebrations. He was quite willing to cut it down since it meant he didn't have to go trekking through the woods in -32 degrees.

We cut the tree down and took it into the kitchen to thaw. This was a big mistake as it was frozen with a lot of frost on it and that melting frost makes large pools of water, which on a laminate floor will curl the edges of each individual board. I am not happy.... but the flooring will be changed in the spring when we take on our renovations to the house..... When we got the tree in the stand after the church pageant on Sunday night we dicovered that this tree was larger than we had imagined...... argh! After 8 hours of sleeplessness I got up in the morning to once again freak out the animals with another furniture move. By last night it was done. The living room will not be changed again. It all looks good, even if I do say so myself, as you will see in my next post.

Flax Seed Fruit Cake by anonymous

Mix in your largest bowl - 11 cups of chopped dried fruit and 6 cups
of chopped nuts. Options are: citrus peel, cranberries, dates,
currants, raisins, dried apricots, candied ginger and walnuts,
almonds, sunflower seeds. Drizzle over this mix - half cup of brandy,
liqueur, sherry or other powerful stimulant/preservative that will
soak into the fruit and nuts. Leave this half a day or more.

Gently boil 6 tablespoons of flax seeds in 2 cups of water, then let
sit - this makes the "glue". Slightly heat to make it flow nicely - 1
and a half cups honey. Add 3 teaspoons vanilla, 1 teaspoon salt.

Stir into the fruit mixture - 3 cups flour - I use half and half -
white and spelt or whole wheat. Add the honey mixture and the flax
mixture and stir with a BIG spoon.

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Line 5 loaf tins with plain brown paper and
rub the insides with margarine. Pack cake mixture tightly in the pans
(they'll be only a half to one third full). Cover tightly with foil
and bake 1 hour. Then uncover and bake another 10-20 minutes.
YUM! These keep all winter in the fridge, wrapped in foil or in
brandy-soaked linens if we want to get back to the linen theme! They
cut well into non-crumbly blocks of energy food.

Happy Holidays!

Ginger Cake by Marjo Wheat

Prep time = 30 minutes
Total cooking time = 1 hour

125 g (4 oz) unsalted butter (I use margarine)
_ cup Molasses (I use Fancy)
_ cup golden syrup (I use water – less sweet)
2_ cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp Allspice
_ tsp ground cinnamon
_ cup firmly packed soft brown sugar
1 cup milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
_ jar candied Ginger, drained

1. Preheat oven to 350∞lightly grease 8 inch square cake pan.
2. Combine butter, molasses, and syrup or water in a saucepan and stir over low heat until the butter has melted. Remove from heat.
3. Stir the flour, b powder and soda, and spices in a large bowl, add the sugar and stir until well combined. Make a well in the centre. Add the butter mixture to the well, then pour in the combined milk, ginger, and eggs. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and well-combined. Pour into the baking pan and smooth the surface.
4. Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the centre of the cake. Leave in the pan for 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

This cake will store well for up to a week in an airtight container, and improves if it stands for a day or two before being eaten.

Hot Mulled Apple Cider with Cranberry by Renate Giesbrecht

1 jug organic Santa Cruz apple cider
1 cup Just Cranberry juice (it is straight cranberry, no apple or grape in it, nor any sugar)
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1 orange, cut in slices
 
Heat all in slow cooker till hot. Serve in hand pottered mugs. Lovely!
 
Optional: add your own mulling spices, squeeze in some fresh orange juice, add fresh apple slices

Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread by Kim McTaggart

1 cup butter
1 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp grated lemon zest
2 cups flour
 
Beat butter with sugar until creamy.  Stir in seeds and zest. Gradually add flour.  Gather into a ball and chill for a while if sticky.  Roll and cut as desired.  Bake on ungreased sheets in 300F degree oven.