Applesauce

27th we've made close to 400 quarts of applesauce (it's around 390 or so). We cooked the last apples yesterday morning and early afternoon. (28th went and got more apples not many but we'll get a few quarts from it.) My hands are a little sore from holding a knife for almost all day and pulling out the stems for the past two days. :-) But they'll be fine soon. We had some nice apples and they cooked down really well but one tree that we picked several tubs of was a small, hard and sour apple. They didn't make super good applesauce but we'll be glad to eat it this winter. :-)
Ellie bought some dexter cows... one of which gave several of the family members a merry chase this morning, she left a calf behind so she's a little on the ditzy side right now. Hopefully she'll settle down soon. :-) Lydia wants to get a tarantaise from the same guy so that cow might be coming up here soon as well.
Went and got 40 or so chickens yesterday evening... Dad thought we would be catching them and had 4 of us kids along but the people we were getting them from had them already crated up so we just had to bring them home. It's going to be nice to have chickens around again. We always seem to run out of eggs. :-) Guess that comes from having a large family to feed.
See y'all.
Hannah

Sundays

Sept. 21st Had a great Sunday. The sermon was on glorifying God at all times, in actions and talking. It hit pretty hard, I tend to do a bit of complaining and it was good to be reminded by someone else that since I'm saved I have a lot to glory in. :-)
After church we went to the pastor's house for a hot-dog roast with the rest of the church. After the meal us kids went to the lawn and played a variety of games including, Frisbee, tag, football, soccer, Have You Ever and a 'war' of sorts picking on certain people to be 'bombed' with frisbees and balls. :-) It was fun and plenty of exercise.
Naomi's feeling a bit better, she's been taking black tea baths and that has been taking away a lot of the itchiness and pain. She says that after visiting the natural gal and having her feet rubbed and kind of a massage done it cleared up a lot and she seems to be over her fever for now. Thanks for the prayers for her. :-) Prayer is a blessing, and to be on the receiving end of it..... :-) Thank you very much.
22nd we're in Yorkton, Dad had to pick up some seals for the loader so he can fix it. So we've made it a long shopping day. :-) I need to pick up some banjo stuff, including strings and a capo, I should have gotten them at camp but I forgot. I was a little muddled at camp. :-)
I'll close for now.
Hannah

Chickens

19th Spent all day yesterday over at Covlins with some of the family butchering chickens. We did 255 chickens. That's one batch and there's two others that we'll be doing in the next month or so. They have a good set-up, there are several cones, a dunker and a plucker that will do three chickens at a time. So it goes pretty fast. I ended up being the one washing the chickens after they were gutted. I ended up somehow giving myself two skin scrapes so my fingers are somewhat tender when it comes to being in water or soap. But they will heal fine I'm sure. :-)
Naomi's kind of sick, we're not exactly sure what it is though we're thinking it's chicken pox.... hopefully she will heal quickly. She's pretty miserable right now. Mom is taking her to a natual gal in Preeceville so we'll be able to know how treat her properly. Could you please pray for her? Thanks.
I recently joined www.banjohangout.org so if you play and want to be a friend drop me a request. :-) I'm hoping that I can learn lots and share what I can.
See y'all.
Hannah

Hunting season

Sept. 17th Well it's rifle hunting season, we've had a fair amount of traffic though it's not the week end yet. I'm sure the roads will be pretty full then. :-/ Can't do much about the dust, it's been dry and the wind is blowing toward our house, Dad's been complaining a bit about all the dust and those crazy hunters that have to drive fast... I almost asked him if he had thought of this problem when we bought the farm, after all we were warned by several people that our road would be pretty busy come hunting season. But I suppose it's fun to complain about things you can't change... LOL! I know I do it at times. :-)
I practiced banjo for a bit yesterday, then I had to go set table to lunch.... it's going okay, I'm so thankful when one of my banjo teachers lent me two beginner banjo books. I'm sending them back to him, now that I was able to scan them onto the family computer. Since music stores are so far away from here and they mostly carry guitar things I'm very grateful to have all the help I can get. :-)
Covlins want us to come help butcher chickens tomorrow. That's gonna be a full day. I can't say I'm looking forward to it. As chicken butchering isn't my favorite job, but it has to be done, I think this year we'll be butchering for/with them for 100 chickens or so. I guess we'll see. :-)
I might ride today, we'll see how Millie's foot looks. The other girls have done a couple short rides, wearing red, orange and they once tied a bell to one of the horses necks for safety. ;-) Archery season is a bit safer for riding in but it seems a lot of rifle hunters don't care what they shoot at as long as it's big... :-/ We've heard a few stories about hunters who have shot cows that didn't look anything like a deer, elk or moose. Not all all good and not all are bad either, we just have to take more precautions in rifle season. :-)
That's all for now. ;-)
Hannah

Ordinary

I have Tess over for baby sitting again, played with her Ruth and Sara almost all morning. Fed her early and put her for down for a nap. From which she just woke up. I'll take her over home later on this afternoon.
Doctored Millie's hoof again. It's looking pretty good for how much it bled. Couple of the girls are going riding this afternoon.
Helped Dad pull the pump from the well. I was on the rope and after the water level It was really rusty so I got kind of orange. :-) Hopefully putting the new pump in will go well.
Not very busy, went to town yesterday, got the rest of a friend's birthday gift and also looked at some other stuff.
So I'll sign off for now.
Hannah

Riding

Had a good ride 12th afternoon. Millie stepped on a piece of glass and cut her left front foot. I tried to put a make-shift bandage on it using strips from my over shirt but she lost that soon after. She wasn't limping so I just left it. But when we got home I found that the cut was a lot longer than I had realized and she seemed to have lost more blood than I thought before. So I tried soaking her foot in Epsom salt water, but she dumped that after a few minutes. So I put Iodine on it then smeared it with salve and bandaged it up with vet wrap. Hopefully she'll heal up quickly. :-)
Dad spent all day at the Covlins helping them plumb the meat shop. They helped us lots getting started here so I'm sure Dad is glad to help them out. :-)
Have a great day. :-)
Hannah

More of the same

Sept. 11th Made applesauce morning of the 10th. I also made another zucchini cake for supper, and while it was cooking I changed the banjo strings. After lunch Ellie, Lydia, Martha, Zeke and I headed for the horses. Muckers and Kid led Ellie and Martha for a merry chase around the pasture but Millie was a good girl and let me catch her without to much trouble. :-) We all saddled up and were going to head for a ride but Al was limping so Zeke couldn't go with us. We left for Endeavour and made the 13 miles in 1 ¾ hours. :-) A man from our church asked us to drop by their place on our way out of town so after mailing the letters and picking up some of the mail we went over for a few minutes. I can't remember how long it took us to get home but it wasn't that long. :-) Dropped by Covlins on the way home and saw their new meat shop being built. It was a good ride, and I'm sure we'll end up doing it again in the future. :-)
12th Weeded strawberries yesterday afternoon. Then helped plant new plants. Three of the girls went riding, I stayed home and later made fried potatoes for supper.
Dad went over to help Covlins with the plumbing of the meat shop. Not sure if he'll be home for lunch or not. Mom is trying to figure out who all needs coats for this winter. Several of the kids need either a good or a play, or both and Sears has their coats on sale so we'll probably be putting in an order soon. ;-) There was a coat left here that might do for a town coat for me. Last 2 winters I ended up using one coat for both good and work. It turned out okay but we weren't living on a farm... :-) So after this one is washed I hope it will shape up so Dad and Mom don't have to buy me one. :-)
Talk to y'all later.
Hannah

Just the regular....

Sept. 9th , thinned and weeded two rows of carrots morning of the 7th but it started raining so I chickened out and headed for the house. Late afternoon we went and looked at a milk cow on the way home we stopped by the Covlins and did some net time. Dad and some of the kids went and picked up the cow around 7:00 pm. I stayed home and helped Mom do some scanning also did some other things. 8th dawned gray skies and a bit nippy. Mid morning it cleared off and I picked two ice cream pails of yellow beans from our garden, a few cucumbers and some tomatoes. That afternoon Dad, Mom, Sara, Naomi, Ruth, Lydia and I went to Preeceville. Us older girls did net at the library, then Lydia and I went over to the drug store to get Mom and birthday present as it was her birthday. :-) It rained a bit while we were in town but no more than a sprinkle. Once we got home we ate supper that Ellie had prepared.... enchiladas. :-) Those were good. After wards we had ice cream and chocolate then a neighbor dropped by and visited for a couple hours.
Today I thinned and weeded the other rows of carrots. Picked one tree of apples as they're getting over ripe, and helped pick the raspberries. I was going to go riding but Millie was of a sour attitude today so I walked after her all over the pasture, and ended up closing a couple gates so she was in a smaller pen, I caught her, led her out to the main pasture and let her loose. Hopefully she will understand that getting caught isn't something terrible. Since I couldn't ride I came in and made a Zucchini cake which we will eat tonight Lord willing. :-) And now I intend to practice the banjo for a while.
Hannah

more

Well nothing special or really exciting has been happening here... Mom's getting ready to start teaching the kids on the 9th, Dad didn't do anything to the well pump but he did finish Naomi's hope chest, it looks pretty swell. :-)
The kids went riding again and I had to stay home and make bread... but I'm not gonna whine to badly. :-) Sunday we stayed home from church again, some of the little kids are sick, and Naomi has allergies again so I guess there's a valid excuse as to why we didn't go. I miss being in church though. You don't realize how much being around other Christians helps your walk with God until you can't be around them any more. :-)
Y'all should try out a movie called Facing the Giants.... it's about football in a Christian school... I really enjoyed it. :-)
I need to weed garden today if it doesn't rain, it is over cast but no sign of moisture yet. :-) I just finished practicing the my banjo... well no not mine, Lydia owns it. :-) I finally got into the books that one of my teaches lent me at camp.
And on that I'll close this. Have a great day... and God be with you. :-)
Hannah

Everyday stuff

Rode a short ways afternoon of the 3rd with Ellie, Lydia and Martha. I found that Millie likes jumping a lot over the many logs on the trails, but I don't have the least clue how to ride the jumps. LOL! Oh well it gives those behind me a chance to laugh. :-)
Morning of the 4th we picked Nanking cherries and raspberries at Stehr's and then went over to Youngs and picked raspberries, beans and a few peas. Came home for a later lunch, roast beef sandwiches, and salad. After lunch we worked on getting everything we had picked cleaned and processed. I made two batches of jam, freezer and the canned type, which was all we had pectin for. Mom and Naomi went to town to get some more things for canning and several of the kids went riding, I stayed in the kitchen and watched the canning and kept an eye on the cherry juice that needed to be drained every so often. Read a good Louis L'Amour book while doing so. :-) Nothing like good old westerns to take your mind off the heat and noise of the kitchen. Thankfully I wasn't so oblivious as to ignore what I was supposed to be keeping an eye on. :-) After Mom and Naomi came home we ate supper, then Dad and Mom went walking, Ellie took over the canning of the beans and I practiced banjo with Sara looking on. :-) Sara seems to prefer guitar music to banjo but she was polite to me and only fussed for some of the time. LOL! :-)
Our well is being troublesome again, but Dad thinks it's more related to the pump than the well. He and the boys are going to pull the pump today sometime and see if he can find anything wrong. Hopefully it will be something that Dad can fix, being as he was the main pump man when he worked for the well drilling company in MT. :-)
We girls and Mom need to can a few peaches, and put away all the canned things from yesterday and all the sauerkraut from a few days back. It had to sit out on the counter for 3-4 days before we could put it down in the 'cold' room which isn't real cold right now, but it will chill nicely come winter. :-) After lunch I think several of us want to ride for a few hours, maybe we'll stick to the roads and I can pony Shiloh from Millie. I can't do that very well on the back trails we've taken the past week or so that we've been riding. :-) I have a hard enough time working with one horse dodging branches and trying to make it over fallen logs, I wouldn't make it very well with two horses. :-)
So till next time,
Hannah

Work

Picked Nanking cherries at Stehr's around 10:00 am (31st) after going home five of us girls went over to finish weeding garden at Covlins and also to weed the flower beds. We're done with that job now. :-) The kids went riding after lunch I had to stay home and make bread, and I read a book, washed a large amount of dishes and generally was lazy. :-)
Today (1st) I gathered almost all our cabbage, leaving a few small heads for later fresh eating. While doing that Mom and the girls brought in beets, carrots and potatoes to make borscht.... I'm not sure how many quarts we made but it's around 20 maybe more. After we had done the cooking of that, Naomi, Lydia and I drove over to Covlins and Janeen paid us we also had some net time. Though gmail wouldn't work for almost the whole time we were there and only the last 15 or so minutes could we access our e-mails. Oh well. :-) Net connections may be fussy at times but you know you really have nothing to complain about since you're just thankful to be able to use it. :-)
Once back home Mom had started the canning of the borscht and cherry juice so I went ahead on slicing up the cabbage. Only problem was I busted our older electric slicer after only 3 cabbages so we had to finish slicing with our hand held slicer. Jesse thankfully filled in on that as my wrist was already aching from cutting up all the cabbages into quarters. I know I'm a whimp, but I think I ended up cutting some 25 cabbages into quarters.... :-) We have to pound the cabbage (with 2 Tablespoons of sea salt per cabbage) for 10 minutes to get the juices flowing. I think it's another way to torture sore wrists... LOL! So I ended up trading off with Ellie and Mom on the batches. I can't remember how many quarts of Sauerkraut we made, but it will have to do for winter. :-)
So that's what we've been doing around the house. I'm think Dad is still working on the hope chest in the shop. Zeke cut his finger cutting out a sword/long knife so he's not been able to do a lot. The cut will heal quickly so he'll be back in swing soon. :-)
Mom wants to can peaches tomorrow, we were able to pick up two boxes, not much in our family but they will add color a few times. :-) I love canning fruit, peaches, pears, cherries.... and I even like canning apple sauce especially when we have enough apples to make over 300 quarts of sauce. :-) It's only then that the job seems worthwhile. That can be a tiresome job, but if you know that hating it isn't an option then you can at least become thankful for that time of the year. :-) Putting up food for the winter is so rarely done by most people these days, I feel sorry for those who've never canned (or froze) any produce. But that's just me, I like working with my hands sometimes. :-)
Hannah