We now have a freezer

We have a freezer....
Now i am sure you are wondering how we have a freezer  while we are living as close to the year 1865 as possible and do not use hydro. Well let me tell you. My beautiful husband has converted a window in the cold room into a freezer box. He took out the window glass and boxed the frame in. He covered the outside end with fine wire mess and screening to keep critters out. On the inside or inside of the cold room he added a door to his box and voilla we now have a freezer.It will of course be temporary , winter only but it will be wonderful to use for the time we can. Mother nature will provide us with the necessary cold free of charge , no hydro. So we can safely say...we now have a freezer,

Part 3 Cooking up the offal...kidney

Kidney....According to Mrs Beeton veal kidney is much more tender and much more preferred than cow. All of her many recipes for this organ gives instruction to remove the core after slicing .This is easy to do . Although I rarely if ever remove the core I will have to do that and see what the difference is . Kidneys are lovely stewed slowly . I do mine, stewing slowly with beef and a variety of vegetables and spices.Heavy on the mushrooms. I also generally add a cup or two of red wine to this stew. After everything is beautifully tender I drain the meat and   thicken  the drippings, I add this back to the meat and put all into a baking dish.Cover with a puff pastry and serve as a beef steak and kidney pie, What do you do with kidneys??

Part two cooking up the offal.......liver

Mrs Beeton's book of household management written in 1865 describes liver as "often used for frying, As it is  very lean it is often cooked with some of the inside fat or crow or with bacon"
Served as an entrée.
But I have also found recipes for liver pate especially chicken liver pate.
Liver can be eaten from any beast,cow/calf, chicken ,sheep,or pig.The tenderest is of course calves liver.
We still fry liver today but have learned to add other ingredients to perhaps liven the taste. I cook mine very quickly dredged in flour and fried in butter. I marry this with a creamed bacon,mushroom,onion white wine sauce.
Anyone have liver recipes they would like to share??
M 

Waste nothing.Cooking up the offal.... Sweetbreads

I had a lovely visit in London this afternoon, in a beautiful home with wonderfully progressive people making a difference in the world. They were Rotarians boxing cookies to give to people in the city..Wonderful way to spend the afternoon.

As usual talk turned to food. Why is it that always happens?
We discussed sweetbreads which is one of my favourite foods if cooked correctly. Hard to find today because in my opinion we have forgotten the rules of "waste nothing"
Sweetbreads are described as either  Heart sweetbreads or throat sweetbreads which comes from the thymus.
Mrs Beeton's book of household management written in 1865 describes sweetbreads as a delicacy ,sold at fancy prices.Cooked in variety of ways and served as an entrée.
Sweetbreads come from cows.Either calf's or full grown. They also come from lambs . Naturally calf and lamb sweetbreads are much more tender and require less cooking . Whereas beef sweetbreads need to be cooked longer and slower.Often in stages.Sweetbreads are boiled gently or braised.Cooled and peeled and finished according to your recipe.
Anyone wishing a few varieties of period sweetbread recipes please ask and I will be happy to post.
This is a wonderful food and it is a shame that these parts are being turned into animal feed because we have forgotten their loveliness as an entrée.

Cutters/sleighs

Hi everyone 
We finally have our cutters/sleighs. They are beautiful and I will take photos tomorrow and post them for you to see. It is wonderful to have such beautiful pieces of history . You wonder who owned them and where they travelled in them.

Letter writing

This is a piece I posted to our facebook page regarding letter writing

Letter writing in the year 1865 was used much the same as we use computers today. or perhaps even the telephone.The postal services were very good and in most cities thousands of letters travelled daily. There were couriers, and if you were "well heeled" you would have your own courier. I have letters dating back to the 1700's Anyone having the opportunity to read old letters will be thrilled at the detail they contain. You can tell if they have travelled long distances or have only travelled a few blocks by their content. You will be thrilled by the gentle manners expressed even on paper during the time period. Letters flowed with conversation. Generally starting off very formally regardless the sender or the receiver. Occasionally there will be codes and it is fun trying to figure what they are meaning. I love the conversation found in letters gently written , I love the peace in writing and the thought it provokes. I have a few friends who hare my love of writing with dip pen and ink and we letter write on a regular basis. It is calming and genteel. Try it sometime. Listen to the pen and the noise it makes on the paper. Listen as you dip your pen nib and tap the excess ink off. Listen to your mind thinking about your words...it is a whole different experience indeed.
Anyone wishing to join our letter exchange is more than welcome.
I will continue this tomorrow.Pain is making me sleepy today.

Thank you to Circa Antiques owner Doug Long

Well everyone wonderful news.
We have the dress hoops.
 They are fantastic and light as a feather. I will examine them better in the full day light . Before I tell you the other items we found I have to encourage you to visit the antique shop in Watford Ontario.The shop is called Circa Antiques. Owned by Doug Long. Who is obviously in this business because he loves history.He is knowledgeable about everything he has in his shop . Has unusual items such as a food pusher used by babies to learn how to push food onto their spoons. Wonderful piece. Plus Doug has a steady stream of Bob Dylan playing , making you wanting to never leave lest you miss a song. So please visit his shop. We purchased some spiels, a bed warmer complete with screw cork, a hat brush for Kens top hat, many tools. Such fun looking around. Oh and the loveliest game table usable on both sides . I can hardly wait to have guests over to play parlour games, I also cannot wait to show my sewing friends these hoops. A piece of history one rarely sees.
And to add next week we will be picking up our cutters. I will be sure to post pictures of them. Now all we need are the horses to pull them. see you soon.
Margaret and Ken

Fall day

Greetings 
Wow cool fall day today. getting the greenhouse winter ready. And the chicken coop. Dug some beautiful potatoes from the garden . Thank goodness for the warmth of the kitchen stove and plenty of hot water for a much needed warm bath. I am tired tonight and will hit the hay early ...well as soon as the birds go to bed.

Hoops

Hello everyone on this wet Saturday evening 
We were invited to a B'day party for  twins who turned 1. Lovely gathering and they looked so beautiful in their new outfits. 
On the way home we happened on an antique store. Lots and lots of things we would have bought had money not been an object. But the one thing I am going have to go back for was an original hoop . It was for a young girl but it was in absolute perfect condition.  I have never seen an original other than in pictures . I am hoping the shop owner will make a deal with me . I will keep you posted for sure
Until next time 
M

July 20-21 2013 weekend fair

Please keep in mind our weekend fair next summer


Living Victorian in a Modern world
           Weekend Fair
           July 20-21 2013

More detail to follow . We hope to teach participants why we are doing what we are doing, how we are doing it and how it is affecting our lives . And what we plan for the future.
So if you are interested please mark the date on your day timers.
Tell as many people as you can
If you want to do a demonstration please contact us..
Until next time
Margaret and Ken

From our facebook page a post

We are having a relaxing day and discussing the "Living Victorian" fair we are planning for next July. Suggestions welcome .
We are also planning our Cider making weekend for next fall. Have some interested participants already. If you want to make your own apple cider please let us know. We have our beautiful presses and you are more than welcome to come and use them. We will have other projects to work on that weekend too. Perhaps sausage making???

Storage for almost anything

Greetings again: I've started on the storage area we need on the side of the shop. 5' X 22' in total and 8' tall. We accumulated some sliding doors last summer, 6 in all, and I'll be using 4 of them on the storage shed. Pretty swank huh!?? Not really, they'll be doing service as windows, not doors. This will eliminate the need for electric lighting, portable lamps or flash lights will be sufficient additional lighting at night should we have the need to hunt something down after dark.

I'll have some pictures later and post them as a group. Look for them on our Facebook page "Victorian Year 1865". The storage shed will be the second last major project for this year. My last project will be the cold room for the garden vegetables and preserves. (strangely almost completed before the shed ... hmmm!!)
Lots of shelves for squash, potatoes, carrots and whatnot. Yummy veggies to enjoy all winter!

Till next time,
Margaret and Ken

Hunting for hay

Greeting all: A few weeks ago I spent about an hour on Kijiji hunting for hay at reasonable prices. I am out of touch with hay costs apparently because I was very surprised at the cost per small square bale, anywhere from $3.50 to $8.50 a bale plus delivery. Wow! i say again ... Wow! Definitely need to be on the ball next summer for sure. We are looking for about 100 small square bales and I don't want to pay $1000 for them! I guess I'll need to get a scythe handle, put my blade on it, sharpen it up and start cutting by hand.

We'll need straw for bedding as well, again, about 100 small square bales. I see straw runs about $3.50 to $5.50 a bale. Not as much as hay, but still an expense.

Lesson learned, pay attention to prices for forage and try to get a much a possible for the labour it takes to harvest it. The same goes for straw. Can you say "hot and sweaty?" I can, it's been a long time since I did any serious hay or straw, it should prove interesting to say the least.

Till next time
Margaret & Ken

To be thankful for

A Happy Thanksgiving to all of you .
We had a wonderfully full day this past Thanksgiving weekend. Had our Grandsons Aidan and Jude stay the weekend.Jude learned the art of making pumpkin pie from the pumpkin out and apple jelly from the apple peels and cores. We enjoyed 4 types of squash for our Thanksgiving dinner this year and Jude has become an avid seed saver .Labelling the containers he scraped the seeds into. Most of our dinner was vegetable in manner with the exception of a lovely turkey with sausage stuffing .Oh and cranberry sauce made with help from Jude .We ate our fill and then went for a  2 hour walk in the fields , the bush, through a corn field and finally home. It is hard for this grandma to climb fences with skirts on . But it made everyone laugh.
A good day had by all
Until next time
M

Recipes and menus

I have had a comment asking if I would be willing to share recipes . Absolutely.If there is recipe or a food item any of you would like to know how to cook in period style please ask. Cooking has remained very much the same in the past couple of centuries. The variety of food has decreased unfortunately as we have become accustomed to wasting a good majority of the beasts that give their lives to sustain us . But preparation is similar. Methods of cooking has changed , by that I mean the appliance we use. You will be pleasantly surprised...macaroni and cheese anyone?
So if there is a food item you would like the recipes for please feel free to ask. I have done much research in this area in particular. Not that any of you who actually know me would be surprised.
Until next time
M

A most enjoyable luncheon

Last Saturday we had a most enjoyable luncheon with our friends Mr and Mrs B. This was a prearranged luncheon  in full Victorian fashion and garb.Mr and Mrs B arrived at the appointed hour and were beautifully garbed. we knew then this was indeed going to be a day to remember.
After a short visit in the parlour Mr Cook took Mrs B's arm and we entered the dining room . We dined Al a Russe with a meal of 10 courses.Every item was triple researched to ensure authenticity.
The Menu
Soup of finely chopped vegetables
Salmon cakes with a mayonnaise dill sauce
Beef Pie
Chicken ragout in a puff pastry
Creamed celery
Steamed cucumbers in a cream sauce
sweet potatoes
glazed carrots
buns
apple tartlets
steamed carrot and apple pudding with a brandy sauce.
The meal was enjoyed by all .
After wards we took a turn around the grounds and discussed our plans for a apple cider bee for next fall.
A most enjoyable visit which we hope to enjoy again soon
Mrs B presented me with a lovely gift of home made preserves and other beautiful items.
How wonderful it is to have such beautiful friends
Until next time
Margaret & Ken

Fall weather has arrived and Henry is leaving us

Our Grandson happily took home cabbage,egg plant, squash,tomatoes, zucchini, and an ever prized first pumpkin. He was indeed a happy little boy. When he arrived home he presented his Mother with a lovely savoy cabbage in its entire beautiful leafy brilliance.
The nights are cool and the woodstove now feels welcoming instead of smotheringly hot. Our trees are turning wonderful colours and I look forward to my favorite time of the year. A time to put down everything we can to enjoy for the winter months. A time to relish the smell of the wood stove as we stand outside in the cool weather.Smells wonderful to me .
I look forward to hand sewing and long stewed meals. As we prepare to hunker down for the winter. We have decided to add on to the chicken coops and runs this fall . In order to ensure lots of excercise space for our ever growning flock. Speaking of chickens , sadly we are losing our origional Henry. Our Beautiful Bard Rock rooster is old and dying . he follows me around like an old man and has lost his shine.I am sad that he will be leaving soon , but he has  had a wonderful long life . He is 4, has had his own personal harum and has lived an entirely free range healthy life. For a mistake he has done very well indeed. I say "mistake" because I had ordered this lot of chickens from the hardware store in town. I asked for a dozen chickens. When they arrived they were all a few day old chicks, I soon discovered that one of the "chickens" was indeed a rooster. jokingly my next trip into the hardware I said to the clerk. " I seem to have a problem with one of my chickens" He said "oh what is the problem?" I said "t has a penis"
He asked me if I wanted to return the bird and I declined. Henry has been a fantastic member of our chicken family and has been a wonderful protecter of his many ladies. I will miss him indeed.
Our runner ducks are turning beautiful colours, there heads are turning greens and purples. And they are developing lovely wing feathers of assorted colours ..we will have to take photos.
Well I will go for now , we are working on the cold cellar this week so wish us luck .
Until next time
Margaret

We are so blessed

There are some people you meet who you soon learn are just meant to be in your lives. I could hardly wait to write this to you and tell you how blessed we are . We haven't written much this summer.Partly because we have been so busy and partly because with the humidity in the air we could not get our laptop to connect properly. But we are not at home today, in fact I am sitting at a Tim Hortons writing this.
We are on our annual treck to the Windsor, Lemington area to get , sweet potatoes , apples and any other deals we can find to get us through the winter months. And to make up for the fruit trees will not give us fruit this year. We found some beautiful apples at $10 a bushel , and many other delights. Still havent found sweet potatoes.
But let me tell you why I asked to stop here and write this..
We stopped at a garage sale sometime last year and met a lovely lady named Sue. We bought many lovely items and could not get over how inexpensive everything was. We chatted about our love of history and soon learned Sue was a lover of history too. So we told her about our little lifesyle experiment and directed her to our blog page..
Today we stopped at a garage sale again , and you guessed it , over came Sue and her Mother welcomed us by name and we continued with the conversation we had started last year. We were a little surprised that we had been remembered and that they were following our blog.But not only that , Sue has created a beautiful memory book with each of our blog additions in it . A beautiful antique book . She has followed us right along. Imagine how touched I felt looking at this book and hearing her words.
Sue and I will start writing to each other and hopefully she and her husband will honour us with a visit.
Margaret

Ken here, I'm all about buildings if you haven't guessed by now. I'm also about dreaming and making the dreams happen. We have been blessed this year with chicks from our own birds and some lovely kittens as well. I have been cleaning up areas on our property with a mind to get some major capital projects completed. The challenge here is to build the things we need built for as little money as possible, none at all is the ultimate goal. I have now collected most of the mareials for these building projects and have spent less than $300. This will give us an enlrged storage area for Margaret's catering equipment and all of our camping gear etc. It will also finish our west walkway, a step for the green house, a new vestibule for the chicken coop (cuts down the wind in the winter) and a foundation for the garden shed. I'd like to get all of this done before the snow flies (read "must" get done). We also have to get our cold room finished so we can store all of our vegetable wealth. Sounds like a lot of work and it is but it will be well worth it in the end.

We will live off the fruits of our bounty, chemical and corporate free, all the while building and planning for next year. Speaking of next year,Next July we are holding a weekend event to showcase what we are doing and to teach others what a modern Victorian lifestyle can look like. We will have other like minded people join us to teach their skills so keep next July in mind and we will follow with the date. Sorry I ust cannot remember what we decided on .oops!

That's all for now,
Margaret & Ken

We think we can add pictures

Greetings all, we recently moved  up to the 21st century with a couple of Samsung Galaxy SII smart phones. Victorian? Most definitely not. Victorian in spirit,very much so.They  loved new technology. We are going to try and upload pictures to the  blog with  our  spiffy new tech. We have taken quite a few pictures and want to share them with you. Wish us luck as we endeavour to make our available for all to see.
That's all for now,
Margaret &Ken

Summer glorious summer

It has been a  while since we have posted and there is much to tell. We have been very busy indeed with gardens, grandchildren and new lives at our farm.
We have 2 lovely sheep , Emily and Charlotte. New to our farm and they already think they own the place. They were very intrigued with the cats and I was wishing I had a camera when they met one of the very small kittens only to get a smack.Shocked them for sure and gave me a chuckle .
We have 11 new chicks, went out one morning to let the birds out and there they were. We have had so many hens lay on eggs only to result in us throwing them away months later that we were nicely surprised that this crop actually hatched . They are lovely black and yellow.
We have more ducks in two varieties Runners and muscovies . So it is noisy and busy at our house . Sounds beautiful. We are digging a pond out back but will keep the canoe as everyoen seems to love swimming in it first thing in the morning . Especially the runners , they come out of the pen and jump right in . Delighted our grandchildren to no end. Lastly our gardens are doing wonderfully.Wow this has been the summer for gardens and I have been busy canning and drying . We should have a wonderfully full cold cellar this winter.The only crops that we will not have is our apples ,plums, peaches and pears. Sadly the frost took all of our fruit.So we will have to either buy or do without.  You may notice we have  bought smart phones, seems pretty modern but we need something portable and something we can post photos with. Not to mention our children finally broke us down. We use internet access to do research and these seem to be a good tool so far. We will see.
We are planning a weekend next July o hold an event inviting anyone wishing to attend to come and visit the farm and learn what we are doing. We are looking for anyone who wishes to participate. So artisans or teachers willing to come set up a booth/tent and help people learn they can indeed learn new things. We hope to educate people to what we are trying to do and what we will be doing in the future. We have enjoyed what we are doing very well and are perfecting what we are doing so when we retire in a couple of years we can do this full time and with more passion. So if you have any ideas please pass them along to us . It is still in the planning stages so ideas are more than welcome.
Well I shoudl go for now . Thank you all for reading this and keeping up with what we are doing enjoy the rest of this lovely summer and we will see you soon.
M

Rain glorious rain

It has been raining all morning and that is just fine with me.Our rain barrels and everything else are filling to the brim and that too is wonderful.The sheep are enjoying being wet and they and the chickens are running around the yard happily.The ducks, well wow they are happy happy happy.
Our gardens are doing well but I must confess I am watering them and not relying on rainfall to keep them going. We have plenty of water in our barrels so this is not a problem.I am sure in period they would not have waited but watered.Their lives depended on their crops doing well.If our grapes survive we will have plenty to dry and put away .They are growing nicely.
I will be back later I just wanted to tell everyone how lovely the rain is today. With the drought conditions all over we are lucky, The USA is having terrible heat and drought and they will have increased food prices .It will be very hard for many people to make ends meet . See you soon.
M

Grandchildren,broken arms and sheep

It has been a busy few weeks and we have attempted to post numerous times. We see a squirrel and oops another day is gone.
I am sure you are wondering about the title of this post. We have had 2 of our grandchildren here to visit.Zoe and Jude. They have had a wonderful time and ill be back to visit us more in a week or two. Unfortunately Zoe who is our dare devil was jumping on the large round bales missed and broke her arm near her wrist.So we have been back and forth to hospital for check ups  and such.Poor little bugger was so very brave and now has a well autographed cast to show off.
It has been unbelievably hot and humid here , and I have been paying special attention to our crops.Our newspaper with cut grass on top around the plants has worked very well to keep moisture levels up . Our plants seem to be doing wonderfully. A nursery I frequent gave me free about 30 more tomato plants and that many onion sets so wow we are going to be busy canning ..
We have bought 2 beautiful sheep and they are adjusting very well, we also bought more ducks and heritage chickens. Very lovely stock .If anyone wishes to come and visit us to see our growing brood please feel free. Some of the ducks are called runners, Ken describes them as teenagers in a mall. If one turns one way so do all of the rest,and they hardly stop moving. These ducks are standing rather than waddling. Very fun to watch, SO now we have chicken and duck tv here at the farm.I must run as I am heading to see the grandchildren and heading to Toronto tomorrow. I am not looking forward to the trip at all. We live a quiet life here , everything smells like it should , there is beauty to look at . Toronto represents at least for me noise,heavy air,smells that are not natural and noise...I absolutely hate the noise. Oh and the harsh lights. We live with the gentle light of candles.I find anything else hard on my eyes . Oh well our trip into the city is for a christening and a birthday. So we will survive and soon be home to our lovely home. Until next time stay cool and hydrated.
M

I wonder if they might have compromised and slept naked

Almost everything we do, we keep in mind what would life have been like if this was indeed 1865. We find ourselves talking about  fruit shortages and what that would mean to the average family.Our fruit trees are almost all bare. Where we normally have hundreds of pears we have counted less than a dozen. Our apple trees have no fruit at all. That would mean no apples going into the cold cellar, no cider,no apple sauce and no canned apples slices for pies etc.I use a lot of apples.Most pork dishes I cook have apple in them of some kind even if it is just an apple stuffing. I use many many apples throughout the year. We have no plums,peaches,  cherries at all. Raspberries are looking good so I will have to waste none. We live in a world now that even with shortages we will have apples and pears, they will come from far away , we may pay more but we will have them.In my opinion it is no wonder we are all so wasteful.
But the gist  of my post has to do with this heat. While I do sleep in period night wear which is wonderfully fine cotton I still am sweltering . We have wonderful cross breezes through  our home but wow it has been almost unbearable to sleep. So I am kind of wondering if you think perhaps they might have said"what the heck,no one will ever know" and slept naked? Any opinions based on anything you have read? I have not read anything referring to this other than having cool water and cloths beside the bed to wipe ones self down  in the heat.So any opinions would be a good conversation..see you soon
Margaret

The major work is done on the greenhouse.

Greetings all.

It seems the only thing I post about lately is the greenhouse. I am glad to say that all the major work is done. The roof is on, the windows installed and the door hung. I am in the minor task portion of the job now, it took me a week longer than I had hoped but the result is quite pleasing to the eye and will be quite sharp looking when we paint it up. Margaret will have lots of room for starting plants for the growing season.

I'm going to occupy myself small jobs next week, some clean up, grass cutting, weed whacking etc.. I'm also going to set up for the next major project which is the storage shed on the shop. I'm hoping it won't take me as long to do as the green house.

I should mention that I used electric power tools for a total of 15 cuts all told. Every other cut, all of the screws were done with hand tools alone. This is one reason it took me longer to finish the job. Every cut took three to five seconds longer, every screw nail took five to eight seconds longer so over the course of the job it added up to about an hour all told. In addition to this, There were some tasks which I had never done before so I had to figure them out in my head before I attempted them. These new tasks were framing for roof valleys and in the end, my solution was pretty much what every other carpenter has done. The solution was simple, elegant and once I figured it out, easy to do.

I would love to add pictures for all top see, but I'm something of a computer Luddite and our camera has bit the dust as well. As  soon as I get the picture thing figured out I'll post some.

This has been an exercise in Victorian tool usage and time management. I have noticed that I'm not as tired from the work as well, probably due to the lack of electrical tool noise (and they are noisy for sure). I noticed I could think ahead better about the job because of the lack of noise. The draw back here is the job took longer to complete. However, I do think the Victorian way of working suits me down to the ground. This is somewhat ironic given that I currently work in a nuclear power plant.

Until next time, take care.

Ken and Margaret

Roofs and Rain and

Stage 1: Monday morning

I finished the framing on the greenhouse extension today. Now to put on the roof , walls, eaves-troughs and door. Yippee skip, then onto the next project. :)


Stage 2: Monday afternoon


Roof is on the greenhouse! Finished it the rain so I got to see how it works and I am quite satisfied with the results. I have to install the windows, the eaves-trough and the door. I hope to be done by Wednesday at the latest. 

The hardest part of the framing was the third gable end at right angles to the main roof tree. Once that was done and I figured out how to do the plastic on the roof it was easy sailing. 

Here's hoping the windows go up smoothly, the door hangs easily and the eaves-troughs mount with no issues. I recognize wishful thinking when I hear it but it would be nice to get this project done so I can get on with the next thing. Windows and door tomorrow and maybe a good start on the eaves-trough. Eaves-trough done for sure on Wednesday.


That's all for now,
Ken and Margaret

Cider presses....

We bought 2 original cider presses yesterday . A small one, probably a table top version and a floor type press. The floor type press has a chopper set-up as well as a press. We found them in Frankenmuth while we were at a Rotary District Conference. We have to go back to pick up the floor press (another opportunity for antique equipment hunting!). I think we'll use the small one for grapes and such and the floor press for apples, peaches and the like.

We also picked up a hand pump in very good shape, it just needs the cylinder and a bit of piping and then we can mount it on our south cistern. Just need one for the north cistern and we be set to utilize the water in the cisterns. Something we haven't been doing to the best advantage.

If you are ever in Franfenmuth stop by "Around the Farm" antique mall at 12025 S. Gera Rd.,  Birch Run in Michigan. Helpful, knowledgeable folks and good prices too.

Green Houses and Wooden Eaves-troughs

Planting isn't the only thing happening. An extension for the green house is taking shape, 8' X 15' in size. This makes the green house look like an Ontario house. Same basic pattern as our home. Main frame is mostly done and the door is rough framed. That leaves the roof tree and rafters, windows for walls, plastic for the roof and sand on the floor. Shelves, dirt tub and water barrel inside, fed from the eaves-trough (Margaret's brilliant idea).

I made the base out of rail road ties and half lapped the joints which were tarred to protect against the rain and damp.

The eaves-trough will be made of wood and sealed against leaks, down-spouts are old metal ones. There is already one on the old part of the green house and I watched it today during our downpour. Water was coming out of the spout in a three finger wide stream at one point. The rain barrel was 80 - 90% full after wards. I was amazed at the collection rate. This bodes well for the rest of the green house roof. We'll need more barrels to catch it in.

I want to experiment with wooden down-spouts as well, something I have yet to do to my satisfaction. I have made two different eaves-troughs, one with a square cross section and one with a triangular cross section. The triangular one uses less material and has just one seam to seal whilst the square one has two seams and uses 33% more material.

I like the triangular one better, mostly because I can vary the size I need more readily that the square type. I was just thinking aloud and asked Margaret what she thought of the idea of making our own eaves-troughs for the house as well. That's my girl, she's game if I am. Love her to bits I do.

That's all for now, until next time take care

Margaret and Ken

Victoria's Holiday weekend

What  a beautiful weekend this will be, well at least according to the weather forecasters. And the excitement that seems to be in the air. 1st long weekend of the summer season. Cottages will be opened , gardens will be planted with the assurance that frost will not be visiting until the fall.. 

We here have been busy planting and planning.

We have news to tell you. We have bought(almost) 2 lovely cutters. I say almost because we still have to pay for them. 

The small cutter is done in black material and has a child's seat that folds down. The larger cutter is beautifully decorated with trilliums , this one even has boot scrapers on each side. 

We have almost finished putting in all of our vegetables. We seem to have been planting for a while now ,but we have spinach,lettuce,peas,carrots,peppers,turnip,potatoes,onions,garlic,sweet potato squash, butter nut squash, hubbards and other squashes,cauliflower,broccoli,brussel sprouts, water melon, cantelope , zucchini, pumpkins, leeks,egg plant. So not too bad this far.

So now we watch, water and hope for good growth. 

We wish all of you a wonderful long weekend , in celebration of Queen Victoria's birth. 

Until next time

Margaret & Ken 

It is no wonder May has always been a celebrated month

One hears of spring celebrations.; But nothing says spring/summer like the month of May. It is really no wonder there were/are so many celebrations in May. The birds are happily celebrating the birth of their young and everywhere you look new life is forming
The gardens are full of new  life , especially the vegetable gardens,I cannot believe how everything seems to have sprung up. We have had a bit of rain and wow . To date I have peas that are starting to flower, I have garlic that is at least 4 inches tall.Lettuce that we will start to eat this week,spinach that is also ready to start to appear on the table. My onions are showing nicely as our my potatoes. We have had treats made of rhubarb twice now and I think rhubarb jam is in order.I have extra maple syrup to sweeten with.My greenhouse is full of tomatoes,squash,turnip,cauliflower,broccoli, brussel sprouts and other goodies just waiting to be planted outside.
I watched a raccoon moving her babies this morning ,one at a time she scampered past with a little one in her mouth. Hope they are happy with their new home .I am sure in no time they will be driving us crazy.As cute as raccoons are they surely can be a pain .
Out front the area we have designated for our future horse is growing nicely and will look rather wild soon I am sure.I went today to have a look at a pair of absolutely beautiful cutters.Wow they are lovely.The family that owns them were very friendly and has much information for me about what is available in this area. So I kind of gave them a wish list . Sounds like with their connections they can point us in the best direction for livestock and such . Very lovely family.
The more I meet people and describe what we are doing the more I am encouraged .People no longer stare at us with odd expressions.Or offer us a free tv. I think people are beginning to realise the importance of real food , and less corporate dependence and this make me for one very encouraged.While I know that not many will adopt our lifestyle I do know many people are relearning to do small things such as preserving and growing at least some of their own food.
So this is my thoughts for today at least,I will get back to you soon. For now I am enjoying the magic that is May and loving the beautiful sound of all of the birds ..they seem so very happy.
Talk to you soon
Margaret

Wow ...and before you know it ,it is May

I/we must apologise for not posting much this month. I/we have been swamped preparing for spring and summer. In addition I am incoming President of the London North Rotary Club so have been very busy learning all of  my duties.
Unfortunately I did miss speaking at FIPT this year to tell you how our year has gone so far. I had to attend a Rotary meeting instead that weekend. I hope Ken was able to answer all of your questions.
The weather has been kind to us indeed and we have much coming up in the gardens already. We have peas, garlic,lettuce, spinach,onions,potatoes,leeks,turnip, the cantelope and tomatoes ,cauliflower,and other veggies are growing happily in the greenhouse.. We have also planted carrots,watermelon and squashes that have not appeared yet
So we have a really good start so far. We are hoping this years gardens actually sustain us through the next winter . So we will be working diligently in our garden beds this summer.
 We are also concentrating on water preservation in a big way this summer, according to many in the know, there may be drought this summer. Now we will know this  for sure in the fall , but to be on the safe side we are not taking any chances. So we have added many new rain barrels. Water or lack of water will be what makes or breaks your food production capabilities.So it is most important . We are not taking any chances this year.
We had a great loss last week. I arrived home from a meeting to find 8 of our beautiful chickens had been killed in the yard. As you know we allow our birds to run free range.Makes for happier chickens and much nicer eggs. We have never had a problem before especially in the daytime. So to arrive home to find such a horror was awful. My beautiful white leghorn rooster who was a favourite or mine died in my arms . I can only assume this was the work of a dog ,because this appeared to be a thrill kill. A thrill kill is when something (generally a small dog)chases the birds until they literally drop dead. They do not eat the kill , they just move on to the next bird to chase.
So we lost our beautiful birds and the guilt was overwhelming.
We have a wonderful friend who has a farm near Orangeville Ontario.She is an expert on chickens . We were fortunate enough that she had extra newly hatched chickens ,so we travelled to her home and picked up more chickens to add to our flock. They are absolutely lovely and Ken finally has his Chanticlairs(sp)
We hope to pick up some ducks and other birds from her in the next couple of weeks. If you either want to learn about chickens or want to buy please ask and I will pass your information on.I have rarely met anyone who knows more about chickens and the breeds ,or is more passionate.Wow .
We found a lovely multi candle mold at an antique shop in our travels . It will make 12 taper candles . Our candle wax pot stays on the wood cook stove all the time so we have wax at the ready to make candles any time .Well I will write more some time this afternoon.I would like to tell you my summary of how this year has gone and what I would like to accomplish this next year. Until then thank you for reading and supporting our little project
Margaret

The Weather and Water

Greetings all, Ken here.  I've been watching the weather all winter or rather, our extended fall and on into the spring and wondering what the rest of the year has in store for us. I have a feeling that this will be a dry spring and summer.

What does that mean for us? It means taking very good care of the water we have on hand in cisterns and water barrels and collecting every bit of water we can, trying to keep the evaporation down and being good stewards of the aforementioned water.

This is, in fact, another facet of the experiment we are engaged in and I'm brimming with ideas to try for the collection of water, storage and distribution of any water we use using only the technology which was available in Upper Canada in 1865.

My research and experience shows cisterns, water barrels, watering cans, pipes, wind and water driven pumps as well as hand pumps were the level of technology available in rural Upper Canada at this time.

Water barrels were made of wood, cisterns of lime cement (all that was available at the time) pipes of wood and some metal, pumps of wood and cast iron and hoses of rubberized cloth (much like a primitive fire hose) were the means of collecting, storing and distributing water. Eavestroughing was made of wood, usually with a downspout leading to a barrel or cistern, also made of wood.

I have constructed an eavestrough of wood and made a downspout to direct the water to a barrel. I can honestly say the wooden eavestrough works quite well. It seals up during the rain and is at last as efficient in gathering the runoff from the roof as metal eavestrough. This test of wooden eavestrough is in place on the chicken coop. The downspout on the other hand, leaves a bit to be desired. If it's windy, the water has a tendency to miss the barrel and is lost to our use. I have a better design in mind and will let you know how well it works.

I also have to adjust the eavetroughing on the main house to get better usage of the water runoff from the roof. We have several barrels to collect the runoff as well as the cisterns, one on the north side and a second one on the south side. They are usually full all year so this year will be a test for them as well I think.

All in all, water and it's usage is yet another aspect of our experiment, and I hope to have some numbers (Imperial gallons used, where it was used and how it was collected) for posting at the end of the year. It will form a baseline for comparison to future years.

That's all for now, thanks.
Ken amd Margaret

In Gueph for earth day

I am in Guelph today , arrived yesterday after a Rotary conference in Sarnia. Last evenng was "Earth day" . I hope all of you participated .
The kid's were funny and while they lit the candles were complaining that they did not have any "travellers"here ...They are used to our house and all of the travellers.For those of you that do not know "travellers" are those candle holders with the handles that you use to travel from room to room.Not sure if that is the correct name but it is in our house.
Zoe exclaimed ...ths is just like Grandma's house ...no lights
This morning she regailed me about Earth day and why we do it . Zoe is our Hippie child and that makes this Grandma very happy..
She told me that her next project in the spring is to go to the walking trail behind her house and they will be picking up garbage that people have left on the trail..Zoe is  7 so we can all take a lesson from her huh?
Earth day is a wonderful reminder that we can "all" shut off
our lights and use candles once in a while . Saves electricity and reminds us that this was the norm not that long ago. People ask me all of the time if living without electrical lighting is weird or bothersome...my answer is no it is calming on the eyes and we can do almost everything that we could do in artificial light . Although I cannot do fine sewing ...but I can't do that sometimes in full daylight...I will have to do a post on eye glasses soon
Until next time ,I have Grandchildren to play with
M

Gardens, Chickens and Fences

Greetings all, Ken here. Margaret is not the only to spend a lot of time in the gardens. I have been making garden fences all day. What's that you say? A fence around a garden? Silly idea I should think! You would be correct in thinking that garden fence might be silly, that is until you throw chickens into the mix. Chickens love scratching, it is in fact one of their best  means of getting food. Our chickens are experts and quite fearless in their choice of locations to scratch about in.

They are equal oportunity scratchers, lawns, flower and  vegetable gardens, wood piles and just about any other place they can get their claws into. They are quite efficient at making holes in the dirt which is where the garden fences come in. Seeds are fair game and vegetable seeds are best of all because they are usually planted in freshly turned soil and so are easy to scratch up.

The garden fences keep all but the most enterprising chickens out of the vegetable gardens. I have found a cheap and easy way to make garden fences that keep the chickens out, protect the gardens from the wind, tend to make the temperature inside the fenced area a little higher (reflected heat and light) and provide extra space for climbing vegetables such as peas and beans. With a little enginuity, you can make frames along the fence to hang tomato pots from, affix chicken wire for peas and beans to grow up and more. The only limiting factors are your budget, time available a materials to hand.

This cheap and easy method of fence building involves skids. We get them from a building supply store in London called Herman's Building Supplies. They have hundreds of skids left over from shingles, bricks and other building supplies. The best part of this equation is that they are free for the taking, it costs you time and gas to get them.

The method of construction I use calls for skids that have overhanging boards on both ends of the skid. I use all the same type of skid and just overlap them, make sure they are vertical and level and nail them to either scavenged 4X4 posts or 2X4's. I dig the 4X4's into the ground 2 ft deep, make them as vertical as I can, fill and tamp the dirt around them. Before I put the 4X4's up, I coat the bottom 2 1/2 ft with roofing tar to help preserve them. The 2X4's I cut to 4 ft lengths, cut points on them and pound them into ground.

I intend to make planting boxes for the top of the skids for the peas and beans. These will be 1X4 rough pine or spruce boards, probably lined with landscape fabric and filled with earth. (Duh!) The skids I use also have slats on the bottoms of them and you could hang pots or make up smaller planting boxes for climbing plants as well.

We have built two of these fences so far, one for the West Garden and one for the Kitchen Garden. I will be building one around the East (or BIG) Garden as soon as possible. Our grand children have expressed an interest in having a garden, so we'll be making gardens for the three of them as well.

I'm hoping this year's garden season will be more successful than last year. I guess we'll know in October how it went. We'll also know how well the fences worked in keeping the chickens out of the gardens as well.

Until next time, take care and thanks
Ken

Getting lots done outside

I am absolutely in love with this weather. I was in the herb garden today and wow the chives are about 5 inches high already. It was lovely to work in my herb garden and afterwards still smell the sage on my clothing ...every once in a while I got a whiff of it . Confused me until I remembered .
The chickens gather around where ever I am weeding or scratching around upcoming plants..Just in case . Geez they are funny.
They have also wiggled nests in the dirt and Sunday we found 2 eggs in one of these dirt nests. Odd little creatures.
I can see the spinach just popping up in the hot box that the boys and I made last week. So it is certainly working . I planted another row of spinach in the front garden.So I will have lots hopefully.
The trees here are budding and there is a tinge of yellow in my decorative bushes . I wonder if spring will stay. Would be fantastic to get an early start and be able to continue on all season .Especially after last years garden troubles. The apple and other fruit trees are in bud , I did not trim them this year but they look fine . We super trimmed the pear and cherry trees last year . We always get a healthy crop from the pears,,,not so much the cherries. Just as you think they are getting nice and ready, in swoops the birds and all that is left is stained poop.Just to prove they indeed have been there and why.
So that is how I spent most of my day today. Did I say I love this weather?
Until next time
M

Chicken tv episode 2 season spring.....

If you want to be entertained , if you want to laugh , turn off your tv and get some chickens,,and then just watch
This morning I threw out some pitch (which in chicken speak is leftovers and peelings ) a bunch of our chickens were near by and ran over to see what the bounty held. I was talking to Ken in the boiling hut and we heard another bunch of our chickens running to beat the band hollering away..Towards the pile of pitch,,,,I am sure they were yelling "wait don't eat it all"..."save some for us".I know this is a "you had to be there moment " but I just had to share..
Oh and by the way ...this years syrup is absolutely amazing.
Talk to you soon
M

The boys are back in town...

Our  Grandsons Jude and Aidan are here for the week. March break doncha know.
It is time to rediscover old forts, check the barn for racoons and plan gardens. I started this post yesterday and did not have a chance to get it written. Well today it is thursday, I am not doing well posting this week at all am I ?
As I said at the start of this post days ago ...the boys are back in town. They have been exploring ,planting, running,chopping ,lighting fires,rounding up chickens, cooking syrup,moving wood and eating me out of house and home...wow
Jude is catching up to Aidan in the eating department. They have a full breakfast in the morning, Eggs, meat, fried potatoes,toast, juice ,tea ,cheeses and assorted fruit...Jude loves kiwi and bananas. And on alternate days oatmeal laden with brown sugar and heavy cream...
Last evening we attended our Rotary meeting and Jude impressed everyone with his eating of a full prime rib dinner ,baked potato and mixed beans followed by dessert..
We have gotten a lot done. Planted peas,turnips,spinach,potatoes,lettuce and carrots. We have burned the small gardens and Ken did the large one. We have laid newspapers and covered them with straw...the thick layer of newspapers ,wet will keep the weeds down to almost nothing ...and they are free for the asking most often.
So we have been busy here and the boys have had a blast. They went for a very long walk yesterday through the bush .
I love having them here and they love to learn..again ...neither of them care about the no lights,no tv,no toaster or any of the other things we do not have ,But what they do indeed notice is the taste of food on the wood stove...especially the baked beans I made the other day....hmmmm maybe that would account for them eating me out of house and home ...do you think?
Until next time ...enjoy this gift of beautiful weather.

The Sap's a-boiling

Greetings all, Ken here. I spent the afternoon and evening boiling sap for syrup. Today I boiled down about 15 Imperial gallons of sap (18 American gallons) or 68 litres and this was the first day I really had a long session of boiling and I made good progress. All told I've boiled down about 100 litres so far. We've collected about 500 litres of sap to date and I expect more before the season is over.

I think it will work out to about 50 to 1 this year. The sap isn't as sweet as it was last year, but I'll know what the ratio is for sure when the boiling is done. Last year the ratio was about 40 to 1, and the sap was sweeter coming out of the tree. The firebox I built this year is working pretty good and I already have ideas for improvements for next year.

I'd like to have a special boiler pan made up for next year, preferably out of stainless, but I'll take carbon steel if the price for stainless should prove too high. Something about four feet long. 18 inches wide and about 8 inches deep, with handles and lifting holes or hooks. I thought about a tap for draining the sap but decided not go that route.

This boiler will fit onto a new fire setup I'm planning to build this year. Hopefully, when all is said and done, the new fire setup and boiler will make syrup making a lot easier.

That's all for now, have a good day.
Ken

The woodstove wows them again

I did a feast this Saturday for a historical group that my husband and I belong to . The group rented a kitchen in a school which had only one electric stove , the  oven did not work well ..so I sent the vegetables to the school and did the rest of the food here in the wood stove. It was funny watching faces when they commented on how fluffy the barley was or  how tender the meat was when I told them it was all cooked on/in the wood stove. I think some of them did not believe me initially. Wood cooking is a lost art it seems . Wood stove cooking cooks food in the oven from all sides.  Making meats tender and juicy . Because the juices are sealed in. Now  people have to sear their pieces of meat in order to achieve this . Ken loves to tell people how I took a frozen prime rib roast (back when we had a freezer), and cooked it to perfection in 3 hours . Medium rare and perfect , cut with a fork perfect. So if you have a chance to cook on a wood stove give it a try,,plus there is wonderful surface area, you can fit lots and lots of pots. Soup can simmer happily all day and all you have to do to regulate the temperature is move your pot from one area to another...oh and no hydro is used in the process...makes me happy to say that..
Talk to you soon.
M

Spring cleaning the Victorian way...

Well spring cleaning has arrived at our house , one room at a time.
Having done much research into this area I am inclined to imagine that most of you cringe at the thought of a true Victorian spring cleaning ...well you need not cringe .
It was not as bad as is believed.

Most of the bad press was due to advertisers trying to display/push that the old ways were "too Victorian" .If you used their new cleaners your life would be one of leisure and you would have an always clean house ...

Victorians were much worried about disease , with good reason. People died easily  until the invention of modern medicines ,especially antibiotics. We have no such worries in today's world.

 Problems such as bed bugs were a scourge in most households, today we have treated mattresses to avoid such things.  Although these little buggers are back I am told.(Pardon the pun I could not help myself)

We have central heating which is clean and most furnaces have filters. Unlike heating and cooking with wood or coal as was. Most of us do not store wood in our homes , bringing in spiders and ants with the wood. And there is the ash and the wood debris from a winters load of wood in the basement or wherever you keep your wood.
Most of us do not store our foods from the garden, so pests do not move in in the fall with the food stuffs.
Our modern homes are much cleaner , not to mention our central or push vacuum cleaners, our modern paints and our wonderful washing machines. Just to name a few differences.


Anti Victorian style spring cleaning and Anti-Victorianism reached its peak in the 1950's and early 1960's. At that time there started to be a push for a  more "relaxed" style of house cleaning to be adopted. This new method/trend focused on a clean as you go method rather than a change of season deep cleaning.
There were also many new "products" sold and advertised to make cleaning a breeze...
Houses were getting more modern and young families tended to buy new homes rather than old homes.
And women instead of staying home and cleaning could go to work in order to pay for their new homes and uber cleaning products ...so they could not possibly have the time to clean the "old fashioned way"

So which is better ?

Spring cleaning here is important, we heat with wood and the walls and ceilings show the dirt. We also seem to get a lovely variety of cob webs , that show up wonderfully . As I mentioned with wood comes spiders and ants , and dust and wood chips etc...
So I clean the Victorian way, One room at a time starting up and working down to the basement.
I have heard tell that some think that the Victorians did this in a one full swoop and emptied the house, I must tell you that this is not true , they cleaned thoroughly one room at a time. Top to bottom, including repainting or papering, re sanding floors. Makes much more sense to do this one room at a time ,especially with the threat of rain in the spring. Besides there were still the usual chores to do along with this extra project.
I have yet to read an account of them emptying the whole house ...just would not make sense.

We have wood floors, it is wonderful to give them a really good scrub especially in the guest rooms. For the rest of the year I just dry mop them.
All of the windows are cleaned with ammonia and the sills are feed of last years fly graveyard.

The kitchen is cleaned much more often ,it gets dirty especially the ceilings because of the wood cook stove. So I pay paparticular attention. I wipe down all of the wood at least every other month with ammonia.
The kitchen is also the most travelled room so it is needless to say it is the one that gets the most attention..

Another Victorianism I would like to mention is the strength of the cleaning products, again advertisers were looking to convince women that if their products were purchased ,women's lives would be much better. I have seen the ads with women wearing gas masks, But I would argue that our cleaners are caustic today as they were then. We have just sort of tidied them up and added "spring garden " smells to them..We still use ammonia and ammonia products ...just as they did then. To name one ...

Spring cleaning gives us a new beginning each year in a sense.
In the Victorian era and the eras before it "spring" would have welcomed a new year so to speak, a new food growing year, a new visiting time as now people could travel easier and would not be afraid of getting ill from the weather,.
Summer kitchen wood stoves would be fired up, keeping the heat and therefore the dust out of the main house.
Meals would be eaten out of doors or in screened rooms/porches. Many activities would be moved out of doors .Summer curtains would be hung and winter heavy,keep the cold out curtains would be washed ,mended and stored until the cold returned.
I love spring and spring cleaning, I look forward to the season that is approaching and can hardly wait until we can breakfast on the porch with seasonal flowers on our table ..
until next time ,,,you know where I will be
Margaret

Sap, shacks and syrup oh my!

Greeting all, Ken here. The sap is running full tilt and we already have had about 80 litres of sap partially boiled with another 180 litres waiting in our storage bins. I'm just about to head out and gather more after this post (about 5:30).

I built a little sugar shack this year but my design leaves much to be desired. I'll have a better one for next year given my experience with the design flaws of this year's model!

Last year we made about 20 to 25 litres of syrup from around 800 to 900 litres of sap. I'm trying to keep a better record of sap collected and syrup made so I can get a feel for how much we might have spent on syrup in the store. Margaret said she heard on the CBC that it will be a banner year for syrup. I guess we'll know come  April.

That's all for now. Stay dry and warm.
 Ken

Letter writing

I went to Guelph yesterday, on my trip home today I was listening to CBC as usual. Nora Young was on with her program Spark...she  interviewed someone who has decided to write a letter a day , hand written, not on the computer...It is called the "letter a day project" and can be found on the CBC Spark website...Funny enough I had just affixed a stamp to a letter, Yes you guessed it, a handwritten letter. Written with pen, nib and ink from an ink well..Just they way it was done in 1865.I have a few people that I write to often from all over . We write in period style and I am blessed enough to have a lady who writes from the US and even draws in the post mark as it would have been...very cool.
I have numerous ink wells and my newest favorite was purchased in an antique shop in St Thomas ,it is wooden and covered with tooled leather, The lid opens to reveal the ink holder/well  (which had been replaced with a thimble,,oh well it works fine .) it is a lovely piece. My Grandson Aidan has gotten into using my pens and ink and loves practicing . So I had a little chuckle as I was listening to this program while my letter to my friend was sitting on the dash waiting for me to mail it. I have often wondered if anyone at the post office notices our letters ...
Talk to you soon
Margaret

Tea not just for drinking anymore

I had heard that some Victorians saved their tea leaves to assist in cleaning . They sprinkled them on the floors apparently,then swept them up. I had asked someone about this and had asked if this was for dust control. I never did get a reply so I decided to give it a test. We saved our tea leaves and today I did the whole room .Sprinkled the tea leaves over the floor and swept them up according to what I had been told ...sure enough it decreased the dust . We get a lot of dust in the house from burning wood. So this is an ideal way to control the dust somewhat ..Just thought I would share that with you ...see you soon
Margaret

Wicks, Winter and Wood

Greetings all, Ken here. My lovely wife Margaret posted earlier about wicks and the need to trim them once in a while to maintain an even burn. We have been using nail scissors to do this. Today,we played hooky (I was supposed to be getting wood) and went into St. Thomas, the Elgin County seat and some antique shops to see what was there. We  came across a pair of unusual wick trimers in a shop called "Antiques on the Side", located on Talbot Street in downtown St. Thomas. This is truly a wonderful place, filled with all sorts of lovely items ranging from the whimsical to the historical. We also picked up a wooden ink well, a silver plate serving basket, a quill pen and nib, a ladle and a ceramic serving dish. All this and we spent less than $60!

We also visited three other antique shops and thrift stores and picked up some enamal ware, some wood bits and other hand tools, a covered serving dish, some wall sconces and candles, a sixties style Do-it-yourself book and a few other items. All in the name of Victorian living! Ok, the Sixties DIY manual doesn't count but everything else does.

We played hooky today because we were both feeling, dare I say it, lazy! I had planned to get wood today but the wind was blowing pretty fiercely so I elected to shop instead. We have been spoiled by the mild winter so this icy blast would have made getting wood a very chilly proposition indeed.

Speaking of winter, this is the kind of weather I'm used to seeing at this time of year. It is also the time to make ice blocks for the ice house and the ice box. We have had a few containers full of water sitting outside for this purpose and have watched them freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw and had given up hope of ever getting ice blocks the natural way. I guess we'll see what transpires over the next few days and weeks.

Today was also special for another reason. Our granddaughter Zoe celebrated her 7th birthday today with some of her friends from school. Happy Birthday Zoe.

That's all for now. Thanks and Good Night.

Ken and Margaret

Keeping wicks trimmed

Some evenings we will be sitting reading or playing scrabble and the room seems to brighten unexpectedly...sure enough one of the wicks will have curled and the candle flame shoots up . Time to trim the wick.You do this  for a couple of reasons. As your candle wick burns it seems to sometimes curl causing it to burn unevenly. When the wick burns uneven your candle does too. you end up with a candle that burns quicker on one side , ending up with wax spilling down the side of the candle and pooling into the candle holder lip and often onto the floor,table whatever. Can be messy indeed. I have a few of those lovely glass pieces that sit on your candle holders and seem to collect the spilled wax in them but that sometimes causes a problem when the wax is cooled it is hard to remove them. I am constantly scraping wax from counter tops and table tops..and floors. I have found that using an offset spatula works wonders for scraping wax from tables and floors. We have found that all candles are not created equally, some are wonderful and burn slowly and the wicks seem to burn slowly with them, and others burn so quickly it is hard to believe. We got a bunch recently and we were so surprised at how quickly they burned away. In between dipping our own candles , which I might add is a forever job, we buy as many as we can at used stores such as the Salvation Army used store or Goodwill,,,Yes I have heard of Value Village but after a bit of research I found out that they are actually an American company that although they give a extremely small percentage to a charity they actually are listed on the stock exchange,,,and are not a charity at all , so I will not buy from them.
We have found many good deals at some of these discount stores and can find candles for as little as 25c each,, and all of our family know what to get us for Christmas etc,We really enjoy dipping our own candles and Ken created a lovely frame and we can dip up to 9 candles at a time ,,which makes out grandchildren very happy when they come here and can dip candles. We even make their birthday candles now ...which they love .
Oh well, as I am typing this I can see my above kitchen table candle holder brighten, I now have a lovely pool of candle wax on my table cloth..better go change it and I will talk to you soon..M

You won't belive this ....

I wanted to come on here to tell you that believe it or not the sap is actually running. Ken heard on CBC that the sap was running now, almost a month early,. When he got home today he tapped some of the trees, sure enough they are running . When I arrived home this afternoon from London I was shocked to see the buckets on the trees, then I giggled a bit because of last nights post,,,just thought you might like to know .
Margaret

I am wondering about maple sap this year.

With the warm weather we have been having I am a little worried about what effect this will have on this years maple syrup production . We had such a wonderful amount last year , we actually haven't used all of ours up and trust me we gave a ton away and still have some left. We will have to do some research and see what old records show regarding such a warm winter. It has been wonderful for our wood pile, not using as much as we normally would that is for sure. Wonder if any of you are aware that during the time period we are covering that along with Maple syrup ,birch syrup was also used. It was slightly bitter in taste and from what I have researched took a lot more sap to produce a reasonable amount..We will have to try this and let you know.
My kitchen this evening smells of apple sauce,Ken picked up some beautiful apples at a place close to Ayr for a really good price so I am making them into apple sauce. One thing about having a wood stove, you can slow cook many things at a time . When I visit my daughters house I have a hard time figuring out where to put things on her stove because in order to have heat and to cook things you have only 4 places you can put a pot...on mine you can put pots everywhere, and still have room for the kettle in case you want hot tea. Oh and the wax pot sits on my stove all the time to dip candles whenever the mood hits us. I am enjoying Mrs Beeton's book of household management ,it is a wonderful resource. Gives me a good window into the time period. Especially around food and dining. I was greatly surprised when looking at the baking section , she describes cake making and decorating and lo and behold there are pictures of a cake being decorated using icing in a parchment or grease paper using piping tubes,,,what we now call piping tips.  Well I had better go stir my sauce and give it a taste test...by for now
Margaret

Game of risk and garden planning

I had the pleasure of my Grandson's (Aidan and Jude) company Saturday Sunday and Monday.Was a PD day in Guelph for the schools. I might add that my Grandson Jude wanted to come visit so badly that he offered to miss a friends birthday party, a karate party I might add...how is that for Grandma love?
I must admit he was probably more excited to see the cats...but one can dream.

I insisted he attend the party and we would just leave after he got home ..Karate party was attended and he was wonderfully happy and tired for the drive to Dutton.
The boys love it here and they are fascinated by our project. Jude has fun helping me load the furnace and the wood stove.He worked hard and brought wood in for the stove and happily collected eggs. They watered the chickens and explored everything to make sure it was the same as they left it ... Jude  entertained us with his piano skills  after dinner on Sunday . We also played risk on Sunday starting in the afternoon and ending just before bed in the evening , We played in the dining room which has a beautiful large window and although it was dull outside it was still good light until dusk. We lit every candle we could find to continue our game. Apparently the light was just fine , and the reason I could not tell the green guys from the blue guys is because I am old...not because the light was bad......learn something every day.
The boys also talked about gardens when they were here with me and have requested that they have their own garden this year,naming off an impressive list of hoped for plants. So it has gotten me motivated to start gathering and planting early start seeds in hopes of spring. We are planning massive gardens this year . It is wonderful that these children know the importance of food , real food and where it comes from. Jude loves to tell me how his friends don't know where food comes from , and at 6 years old loves to still talk about digging potatoes and eating the tomatoes and peas right off the vines...these are the memories that will stick I am sure.
Well I had better go for now , see you soon and thank you for visiting us...
Margaret

A Sick Day in the Victorian Year

Greetings all, Ken here. I've been sick the last couple of days and normally this isn't such a big deal. Unless you're self employed, most of us do have a limited number of sick days we can use for this. In Victorian times however, this wasn't the case. It hit home to me because I was supposed to load in a weeks worth of wood for the furnace and the cookstove and was unable to because I was sick. This would mean one of two things in 1865, either I would load the wood in whilst I was sick (and risk making myself worse) or my wife would have to do this on top of all the other things she does in a day.

Margaret didn't have to load in wood yesterday because we had enough to last through till today. I'm feeling better so I have loaded in wood and kept the fires going so the house stays warm for when my love gets home tonight.

My sickness of the last few days got me thinking about how much closer to the edge folks lived in 1865. By this I mean the resources a farm family had to draw on were mainly those contained within the family itself with outside help in times of dire need. I imagine entire families perished in the dead of winter because of influenza or some other contagious illness. I also imagine that their absence wouldn't be taken amiss until the first thaw or maybe even spring. A gloomy thought indeed.

I have always wondered why folks either died young or lived to a ripe old age, and I suspect this may be one of the reasons. Illnesses we don't think twice about would be a serious concern, especially in a farmstead where the immediate resources were limited and the outside resources might be an two hours away (based on a 1 hour trip into town by horse).

Food for thought, and a renewed appreciation of our modern health care system.

Thanks, Ken.

Apologies to Shelly

We apologise to Shelly...we put the wrong address up for you to look at her wonderful art and site. So sorry.
http://www.shelleymcvittie.com/twilightindex.htm is the correct site information...have a look at this wonderful work .
Margaret..

Candles,wax and cold weather

Greetings everyone ..
We took a drive to Cambridge yesterday to have our official Christmas/New Years visit with Ken's sister Sarah and her Husband Dave.
Our christmas gifts from the were candles ,candles ,candles. Oh and wax to make more candles...do they know us or what?
So the wax pot will be doing double time to get more dipped candles made.
On our way to Cambridge we sort of took the scenic route.... highway number 3, we managed to stop by and see Shelley at Cobblestone Galeries. Shelley is one our newest followers and if you like art, her work is incredible and her use of colour is simply amazing. Visit cobblestonegalleries.com for more info. Thanks to our visit with Shelley, we discovered a whole "route" that led us to antiques, apples, bees, honey and a myriad other things here in Elgin County. Things dealing with Victoriana and skilled crafts which are all local to Elgin County. The route is on her web page.

We have a question for you, pretend there is a real Victorian mercantile, specializing in everything Victorian. What would you like to see in this mercantile? Victorian hardware ie. hinges, door knobs, window hardware, candle sconces and the like? What about period patterns for clothing? Period fabrics? Perhaps period furniture. Kitchen wares?
Please let us know.
Thank youhave finished our supper now and the pots of water on the cook stove are hot and ready for our bath.
Our 7 course sunday dinner consisted of potatoes mashed with a yogurt, peas with butter,turnip with apple and onion, stuffed pork tenderloin with a bacon crust, served with an apple jelly,creamed cheese herb stuffed chicken , dinner rolls and to finish a chocolate cake...
To everyone who has written to us regarding our spring dinner , we have decided a tenative date of March 24th...please let us know if that will suit you .
Again this is a strictly period dinner where everyone will present themselves in proper period garb and will have read up on corrent events of the time and date , we will all be 1st person for the entire visit ...I have received wonderful letters written with quill  from a few people and it is cool that you have done this...
Talk to you soon
M&K Cook

We

Feels like early spring

Wow , you couldn't make the chickens happier than they have been lately. Outside everyday , chasing the cats around the yard..They are laying eggs like crazy which is unusual at this time of the year. Chickens generally slow down in the winter months . So we have an abundance of lovely eggs. And our young chickens are starting to lay , we are getting small beautiful eggs , some in blue ,some in green and some white.Got more wood brought in today,especially for the kitchen stove. Other than that just using the day light to clean and get some sewing done. I try to take advantage of the day light for sewing because it is very hard on my eyes to do sewing by candle light.I can do it but my eyes get tired quickly.
Talk to you soon and thank you for visiting.
M

January thaw???

Well this is some weather we are having isn't it?
We took advantage of the day to bring in some wood & do some necessary things outside. Inside I washed the walls in the kitchen.They get very dusty with the kitchen stove going all of the time. So if I do not keep it up they look dusty. I remember the mention that the Victorians used old tea leaves to sprinkle on the floors . They sprinkled them then swept the whole mess up. I am assuming this is to dampen the dust. Something I have noticed is the dust level is high especially during the winter months. So I am assuming this is why they did this. Anyone have any ideas on this or comments??
I have noticed that this is the time of year that grand pieces of pork appear in the grocery stores,  especially in Guelph. Sausage making time again. Sure enough I ran into a friends Mother who happily announced "we are making sausage". Now we also want to make sausage and had every intention to do so .My concern is the lack of freezing outside. With no freezer we cannot keep the sausages. Also we haven't had sufficient snow fall to use snow during this January thaw. Normally we would have our meat or whatever outside and it would freeze , during a thaw period we would just pack snow around the container to keep it frozen , this we cannot do without the snow. Our warmer weather surely would have caused a real problem 150 years ago. So that is all I have to say this evening .Speaking of we have longer light during the days now so I can get a few more things done before I am lighting the candles ...which is wonderful. I really miss longer days.
See you soon