12/17/10 - CHRISTMAS IN THE BARN

Well another successful Christmas party, with new friends, old friends and a really cold night!  There were not enough bodies in there to get it above 50 but we made the most of it.  There was story telling, music and fun, and some of the best food yet! Thanks to everyone that attended, we had a blast with the 'open mic' set up and we hope next year, it may be above 10 degrees outside so we can all just wear mittens!

This is a song I wrote and sung for the occasion, based on farm livin' at The Sanborn Sanctuary:

Pig is roasting by an open fire,
The dogs are nipping at our toes,
Yuletide carols being sung by Joe (the cockatiel),
For chores, we dress up like Eskimos.

Everybody knows, the chickens and the ducks get cold,
The horses hate to go inside,
And the cats, with their eyes all aglow, will find it hard to catch some mice.

We know that spring is on its way.
Its the only thing that keeps us from goin' insane,
And every goat we have will always try to sneak some grain from the bucket as they walk by.

And so we're offering this simple phrase,
From The Sanborn Sanctuary to all of you,
Although its been said many times, many ways:

Merry Christmas to you!

12/15/10 WE LOVE TRAILER TRASH!

Wednesday night was the last of this season's Americana Showcase at the Rochester Civic Center with Six Mile Grove and Trailer Trash and their "Trashy Little Christmas Show."  Gotta love Trailer Trash!  We were privileged enough to sit on the stage this time, just like the very first concerts there, we were VIP's again. We had a great time and so did my camera.  It even snowed for awhile on the stage!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

7/3/2010 - The Malinchoc Family

Just before Independence Day this year, i was asked to do the family portraits of the Malinchoc family.  It was great fun, Mom was always smiling and just having a good time!  Which is contagious and makes family portraits that much easier!  It made me truly miss doing family photos, and that lead me to do more.....

CHICKEN ~ SHA-WING!

The other night I went out to gather up the horses and put them to bed, and as i was walking up to the top of the hill, I noticed a black blob, perched upon the roof of the pole barn.  Thinking to myself,  wondering what this could be: an eagle? a crow? perhaps one of the chickens?

Sure enough, one of the hens had somehow gotten up on top of the pole barn and was thinking this is where she shall perch for the evening. Not good, when we are expecting 30 below wind chills.  She needed her friends to keep her warm.  So i gathered up a rake and walked over underneath where the hen perches and gently bumped her in the rump.  She didn't move and my next thought was, "Gosh is she frozen to the roof?"  Because, honestly that would make a huge mess trying to pull a 6 pound frozen chicken off the roof of a pole barn, or what if just her legs came off?  Then i would have this legless chicken that i would have to babysit all day, hand feeding her grain, pushing her around in a wheelchair (do they even make them that small?).... just not fun.  So i tried again and pushed a little harder.  She flew up, over the length of the chicken run, coming ever so close to the fence line, but, i am assuming, that because she didn't want to land in the four feet deep snow, and she decided at the last minute that the fence wasn't right either, she landed on a piece of yarn that had been strung across the top of the chicken run this summer to prevent hawks from taking off with my hens.  Now yarn has a way of loosing its strength and tautness, and over the summer, it had began to droop way down towards the ground, nearly half-way. So, landing precisely on this ever so loose piece of yarn, with no tautness and no strength, this hen found herself in a most compromising position: four foot deep snow below her and only a weak string in which to be on.  Well, the chicken decides that flapping her wings is a good idea, for security and perhaps loftiness but it ended up pushing her forward and back on the piece of yarn like a child's swing in the playground.  With each swing forward, the hen would cackle, "Ba-caw, be-caw!"  Now imagine this: a chicken, swinging back and forth on a piece of yarn, swings forward, "Ba-caw", swings back, swings forward, "Ba-caw!", swings back, swings forward, "Ba-caw!"  I nearly peed in my pants i was laughing so hard!  And because of this belly laugh, i couldn't manage to pull my phone out in time to video tape this incredibly hilarious event.  Darnit!  That would've made good fodder for a ~ blog!  I guess I need to find a point and shoot camera with a video option, tie a strap around it that fits around my neck and carry it with me whenever i go walk somewhere around the farm, because inevitably, there is always a good laugh or a good story waiting to be documented.

MOTHER NATURE'S REVENGE - PART DEUCE

Last night, as I went out to bring the horses in, I was a victim of what would appear to be a candid camera stunt - A pile of snow fell off the roof onto my head, kerplunk!  Just like you'd see in a movie! I just stood there laughing.  What else would you do?

Well here's the rest of the snow. Pictures tell a thousand words, so i will shut up.

Our kitchen window last night 

Kitty Cat went to get a drink of water.

Icicles look cool in black and white!

The pole barn didn't escape the wrath.

Chickens will not be happy with that drift!

I am waiting for that to fall on some one's head like it did mine last night!

Guess we should have closed the doggie door off in the guest house.

MAKIN' SOME GOAT MILK SOAP - TRIES TO POISON HUSBAND IN THE PROCESS

Made some soap years back, was never happy with the results.  But i found a new recipe and i think this may be it.  Well it better because this is what most people are getting this year for gifts.  Oh, wait!  Shouldn't have said that, should I? Now everyone knows what their present is!  Darn!  Oh well, only the ones reading this post will really know for sure.


Here goes:


Step one:  Gather all the ingredients.
12 ounces partially frozen goats' milk (today was the perfect day for it - I set the bowl in the snow and it was pretty well frozen in 5 minutes)
3 ounces lye
4 1/4 ounces extra-virgin olive oil
5 ounces coconut oil
12 ounces soy or vegetable shortening (I used lard)

Step two: place milk into large bowl and slowly add lye. Stir until the mixture is smooth and without lumps. The lye will interact with the fat molecules in the milk and should bring the mixture to between 95 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step three:  Melt the olive oil, coconut oil, and shortening together in one pot and bring to 115 degrees. (I accidentally heated it to 165 degrees - so again, the snow came in handy)

Step four: Add the oil mixture to the milk and lye and use a hand blender to combine until the mixture demonstrates "tracing" (drips from the blender leave a noticeable path in the mixture). This will take 2 to 5 minutes. 

(I decided it would be a good idea to use the old blender that we had - you can see it in the 1st picture - ancient - well i should've checked it because it had a hole in it, slowly the soap mixture was oozing from the bottom of the blender pitcher. So instead of stopping what I was doing and thinking about it, i grabbed my husband's blender that he uses for smoothies. Well, i promised him i would buy him a new one.  Don't feel right about eating anything out of it after i put poison [lye] inside of it.)

Step five:  Using a spatula, fold the mixture to remove bubbles. Transfer to a pitcher and pour the mixture into soap molds.

Step six:  After 24 hours, turn the soaps out of the molds onto cookie racks. Allow to cure for 2 weeks.

So if they don't turn out in two weeks which is exactly Christmas time, I guess no one will receive a present.  Sorry.     : )

BARN BAR - THE EPISODES ARE UP!

Check them out here!  its all in good fun!
Barn Bar - Season 3 Episodes 5 & 6

SNOW - AGAIN, BUT THIS TIME MOTHER NATURE IS SERIOUS!

Yes, i awoke this morning to hear Bob telling me of the impending snow storm and below zero wind chills. yay!  But I woke up and chose to be happy today so it didn't bother me.

Its nasty out there!

I went out to feed, and realized that i probably should get the stalls ready in the stables for the horses for the next two nights, since the weather channel predicts -30 wind chills for tomorrow night.  I noticed Spice was trembling when i gave her her hay, so i brought her into the goat barn and put her in the extra stall there for the day.  Today the horses should be good, i will give them an extra feeding to keep warm tonight.

I went out and got the stalls ready, filled up the heated water buckets and turned them on. Fixed the latch  on the door that leads out towards the garden and put in each stall a good helping of hay, so when i do go out there to bring the horses in, its already done.  Now you may say what's the difference?  Do it now or later but, for me doing it in the morning seems easier.  I know, but that's me.

I also went to re-cover the small hay bales that are out in the stables because they had fallen down off of them, and noticed that the hens that have been getting out decided they should lay their eggs on top of the hay bales.  I found about a dozen and half.  This happens sometimes, when they get out they like to find 'other' spaces in which to lay their eggs.  I've found them in many strange places over the years.

So after being out there for about an hour and half, Bob calls me on my cell to find out if I am ok.  I just laughed, i was wondering how long it would take him to call.

But its all ready out there - the horses will be warm and safe for the bitter cold nights.  So glad we got thoses stables done years ago.

WEATHER STRIPPING - DONE RIGHT!

So for years, the boys have been complaining that the pipes will always freeze out there in Dad's house.  So Dad's solution was to put some heat tape on the pipes, turn the furnace up and to leave the water running all the time in the sink.  I never investigated why it was so cold out there or why the pipes froze because they are intelligent human beings and are capable of figuring these things out , right?  Well, perhaps its just a male-ism or maybe its cuz when you get older you just don't want to investigate too deeply into something (example - husband yells to wife from kitchen, "Honey, where is the leftover potatoes i made the other night? I can't find them in the fridge." Wife responds from living room couch, "they are right in front of your face behind the milk."  "Oh yeah, thanks!"), but when i went out to investigate why the water wasn't coming out of the sink when i went to rinse the milk jar out - i found out exactly why the pipes are freezing!  Not only is the pipe located just a mere 4" from the old, rickety door that doesn't completely shut, so freezing air is being blown directly onto the pipe, there is also a nearly 2" gap between the window sill and the wall, were freezing air is coming in!  Now, i might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but common logic would determine that this is not operant conditions for keeping pipes from freezing.  When i pointed this out - his response was, "Well, I'll be!  It's no wonder the pipes were freezing!"  Now i love my husband dearly, but OMG! this warrants an OMG! I mean, really?

Trip to Menards and $75 later i got a heat tape, two cans of that gap filler stuff that looks like yellow, puffy marshmallows, pipe insulation, weather stripping for the doors, and plastic window coverings.

I proceded to fill in the gaps in the wall, put new weather stripping on the door, filled in the holes around the door with insulation, turned off the lights and closed the door to make sure i could see if there were any more gaps, filled them, put the insulation on the pipes, put the heat tape on, got the thermometer, and waited.  Within an hour, the pipes were unfrozen, the temperature went up 40 degrees and the water was flowing.

Not rocket science.

12/7/10 - LOST DOG - HERE COMES MADISON TO SAVE THE DAY!

I was out on this night, when i received a text from Madison, "I brought a stray dog home."  Now perhaps a lot of parents would panic over such a comment from a child but for me - its just another day at the Sanctuary.  My response was, "Why?  and did you remember to do chores?" Her text back was, "yes, i did chores and she was wandering outside RCTC, it was dark out, she was next to busy roads, and she was freezing to death. I wasn't just gonna leave her there."  Ok, no problem, understandable.  And over the years of my experience with this, i knew that not every stray we take in now stays for ever like they used to.

When i got home i got to hear the whole story; she was seen outside RCTC all day long, people tried to capture her but to no avail.  However, no one had contacted the correct person in which to capture animals: Madison Adams.  Within minutes, using just someone's leftover burrito and her calm demeanor, she had the dog in her arms and carried her off to her car.

I called animal control in the morning to see if someone had reported a German Shepherd mix female missing yesterday.  They said they had not but an animal control officer had been out all day at RCTC trying to capture the dog and couldn't.  Again, they didn't contact the right person for the job!  I thought to myself, "Now this is what Maddie should do for a living; animal captures. She has this talent that no one else shares, i've witnessed the most scared, pathetic animals, that will not come close to a human, but the will go right up to Maddie.  Perhaps she can get her own reality TV show and become the new "Animal Whisperer."

About 10 minutes after my call to animal control, a woman called claiming to be the 'foster mom' of the German Shepherd mix, and was grateful for us finding her.  I asked a few questions just making sure we had the right connection and it appeared to be so.  Although my main concern was that this woman said she was working with a rescue, but couldn't remember the name of the rescue, or the woman in charge.  Now I had gone onto Facebook and put the dog's info on the SE MN Lost animal page, which is a direct link to all the associated rescue's in the 10 county area and no one said they had heard of a lost dog that was in foster care.  Suspicious I think, but the woman said she could come get her around 6 that night.  Well, at 4 she called to say it would be more like 7, at 7 she called to say it wouldn't be until tomorrow.  Don't Rescue's have some standards for becoming a Foster Home?

The dog wouldn't walk on a leash, so she had to be carried into the house at first.  The foster mom said she needed training in that.  So within the 24 hours she was with us, we had her walking fine on a leash. She finally starting eating some dog food and was wagging her tail happily.  She seemed to be uncomfortable in the house but much happier outside.  This turns out to be true; she was a Reservation dog and was just taken care of by the people on the reservation, never had a forever home, was feed scraps, and was taken care for by the community.  Until someone said that she needed to be rescued.

The foster mom did arrive exactly on time the next day and 'Baby' was returned to her foster home.  She was a sweet dog, hope she finds the right home to live the rest of her life .

12/2004 CHRISTMAS LETTER

I found it!  Had to scan it so its a little off... but looks good!
Scroll down, had to make it that way so you could read it!

BOB DEFEATED - PIG WINS BATTLE

This is why they say pigs are intelligent, not even Bob could outsmart her.

LIVE IN THE BARN ~ THE MAIRTIN DE COGAIN PROJECT LAST NIGHT

Last night was our latest concert in the Barn Bar - the Mairtin de Cogain Project.  Amazing trio of musicians.  Believe it or not they met in Cork, Ireland, where Mairtin is a native. Norah Rendell, from Canada, who plays flute and whistle, and has a very sweet, beautiful voice and Brian Miller, Minnesota Native from Bemidji, who plays guitar, and bouzouki, both traveled to Cork, Ireland to study Irish music.  They three found each other and the rest is history , i guess you can say.

It was going to be a little scary, wondering if we could get the heat up on the barn to be tolerable since we awoke to the temp outside being about 3 degrees. But Bob did a great job and by then time we had about 40 people in there it was around 62 degrees (yes, comfortable for me because this is what we keep our house at)  yet maybe not as comfortable for some.  We had some new faces, and the cheer was contagious! The food was fabulous too!  I really like this MN tradition of potluck.  And yet have I seen the traditional Tater Nugget Hot Dish brought out here.

Who knows who we may have play out there next year!