Five eggs and six yolks

This week, my twelve year old daughter, Emma, went to the chicken coop to collect eggs for the day. When she came in she said, "well momma, we got five eggs and six yolks!" I thought for a moment and said, "huh?" When she showed me the eggs, I totally understood. We got a "double yolker" as we call it. All I can say is......POOR HEN!!!!!

Laundry soap recipe

Borax & washing soda about $3.00 a box, Fels Naptha $1.29 a bar. You will need a bar of soap each time you make it but the boxes last for many loads. I get my supplies at Kroger here.

I have been making this for about 2 or 3 years now. I got the recipe from my friend and we have tried many bar soaps, but Fels Naptha is the best.
You will need a five gallan bucket with a lid, a bar soap, a box of Arm & Hammer washing soda, a box of Borax and something to stir with.

First grate your bar of soap. I use an electric chese grater that I have had for many years.

Put on stove in a pot, cover with enough water to melt to a soupy consistancy.

After it has melted, pour in your five gallon bucket. Add 1/2 cupborax and 1 cup washing soda. Fill with warm water to about an inch below rim.

Continue to stir every 15-30 minutes for about an hour or two.

It will gel and can cause lumps if not stirred.

I use 1 cup per load. This is not a sudsy detergent. The cost is so cheap and it a great recipe.

This is what is looks like when cool and ready to use.

Snow cream

So many people have asked me about the snow creme, that I decided to post the "recipe." First gather a large bowl of fresh clean snow. I use a big clean bucket to gather it in. Then, sprinkle with vanilla and sugar. Pour milk over mixture and mix. I don't have an exact recipe, I just blend and taste. Make sure to not use too much milk at first, add it in small increments, so you won't over do it. You want it like a smoothie. I use skim milk too, but whole milk and half/half makes a really rich cream. You can put chocolate syrup on it too. We don't do too many extras because it takes away from the creme flavor. We cover it and sit it back in the snow where critters won't get into it. Then the children go out throughout the day and get helpings. Thanks to my Grandma Mae..........mmmmm......it's a good thing!

Snow at the farm

What a wonderful day here on the farm! I love waking up to snow! It is so quiet and peaceful. Snow has a way of making everything beautiful. We currently have about 10 inches and it is still lightly snowing.
The birds are enjoying their new feeders I put out this week. Millie loves to roll and run in the snow. She looks like she has a bad case of dandruff on her black coat. The goats don't really like the snow and all they want to do is get out of it!
The kids collected a large bowl of snow for me to make Grandma Mae's famous snow creme. My grandmas' rules are to never make creme with the first snow fall, because the first snow "cleans out" the pollution. I don't know if that's true, but grandma always knew best, so who am I to question her! We are so glad to finally have two snows in one winter that we could have enough to make creme. After everyone got a generous scoop, we put the covered bowl back in the snow to stay frozen for later. What a nice treat to the wonderful day!

Playing on Wilow Pond

Sunday, in celebration for Jeff's birthday, we had a family day on our frozen pond. Yes, we did make sure it was safe. This winter has been the first one, in 11 years to be cold long enough, for the pond to stay frozen and to be deep enough.

We got a nice fire going to warm up by, since the temp was 28 and there was a light wind blowing. We first played a game of "curling" with a small jug type cooler and 10 plastic drinking cups. I think the jug had rocks in it for weight. Dad won, mom came in second! Whew hooo, the old ones still have it!

We sipped hot cocoa, while the children roasted their hotdogs and brats over the fire, with the apple tree sticks Jeff cut for them. The hotdogs were great the buns were however, frozen! We had soda cans on ice (the pond) too. All the dogs came down for a chance to grab a bite that was dropped. I left Bellz at the house since she is too small for the cold temps.

After eating, Jeff and the kids went back out for a round of hockey with walking sticks and a leftover frozen pumpkin from our garden. I stayed by the fire. Needless to say the pumpkin spilled its insides all over the pond!

It was a wonderful family time and we all enjoyed the memories we created.