Apple pie of my eye.

There are two big barrels of apples outside on the porch that are really only good for baking.  'APPLE PIE!' said my brain this afternoon.  Apple pie is what you shall get, brain.  Also, it's Hummingbird's last night here!  I'm taking him to Olympia tomorrow on my way to Vancouver.

My mother makes amazing pie.  I used her apple pie recipe once when I was 14 and it turned out perfect!  These pies, however..... not so much.  It looked like a 14 year old made them.  They suck.  MY MISTAKE was making 2 pie crusts at once.  Don't do that.  It's a stupid idea.  You may think it saves time, but it really doesn't and my pie crust is going to be lame...  I already feel bad for it.  It's so ugly looking.

Here is the recipe my mother sent me this afternoon-

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees, F.

CRUST

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

Mix well with a fork until fine and well-blended.

Using a pastry cutter, cut in ¾ cup butter, until it resembles fine crumbs.

Stir in 5 – 6 tablespoons ice cold water, until it just starts to hold together.  Don’t over handle the pastry, or it will be tough and nasty.

On a floured board, roll out two-thirds of the pastry into a circle which will serve as your bottom crust.  Roll it out until it’s a couple of inches wider than your pie plate.

Carefully transfer pastry to pie plate.  If it tears, don’t re-roll it.  Just press torn edges together with your fingers.

Reserve remaining pastry for your top crust.

APPLE FILLING

8-10 medium to large apples

Everyone will tell you that Granny Smith apples are the best pie apple.  Whatever.  They’re hard and sour, and take forever to become tender in the oven.  If this is the type of apple you have (low sugar, crispy) then I pre-cook them on the stove top.  Peel, core and thinly slice the apples, and put them in a stock pot with a teensy bit of water over high heat, with a lid on.  Cook until nearly tender – 15 minutes???  Once there’s a boil going under the apples turn down the heat, and stir them every once in a while so they don’t burn.

If you have Golden Delicious, or another soft and sweet apple, you don’t need to pre-cook.  Either way, peel, core and slice, and then…

In a large bowl (you can use the bowl you made crust in – I do) toss apples with ¾ - 1 cup of sugar (depending on how sweet the apples are); 2 tablespoons of flour; 1 teaspoon of cinnamon; pinch of nutmeg.  Toss them around until all the apples are coated with sugar/flour/spice.

Place coated apple slices into the crust-lined pie plate.  Cut 2 tablespoons of butter into little chunks, and dot the apples with butter.

Roll out top crust, and carefully lie over the top.  Roll top crust edges over bottom crust edges, and crimp.  Brush crust with milk, and sprinkle with a teensy bit of sugar and cinnamon (not too much or it’ll scorch).

With a sharp knife, cut vent holes into top crust.

Place in oven and bake 40 – 50 minutes.  Peek at it at 30 minutes.  If the crust is getting too brown, cover lightly (don’t seal it) with foil, but continue baking until the apples are bubbling out of the vent holes and making a delicious mess.  You need to make sure you bake it until the apples are done and making sauce, or you’ll have crunchy pie, like Costco, and it sucks.

The end.  Love you.

---

If I had pictures, I would show you this process, but, as you may know, I don't have batteries for my camera still!!!!!!!!!!!  And my pies are ugly, so I don't think I want you looking at them anyways.

But I bet they'll taste damn good.

ALSO.  Only bake 1 pie at a time or yooou'll beeee ssooorrryy.

I don't know what to say about this Japan thing... I just don't.

Sad face....

Last night, as I went to feed dear little Fawn, she started seizing...  It wouldn't stop and she didn't make it.  It was horribly sad, but I'm happy she isn't in pain anymore.  We are thinking she must have had very little oxygen while she was trapped underneath her brothers and sisters causing brain damage.
We were so surprised when she started seizing.  We really thought she was going to make it.
Hummingbird reminded me of what a good goat day she had inside the house.  Most goats never get to come inside and she got to hang out all day AND she got to pee on the couch.  How many goats ever get to do that?  So there's one for your bucket list, little Fawn.  She was so cute.

Today is sad as well, because it's boy butchering day.  We will eat them, yes.  And I'm sure they will be delicious.  I'm perfectly okay with eating a happy goat (seriously, these goats are so loved and so spoiled) who had a very happy life.  But I don't want to see it die.  So I'm inside all by myself blasting The Black Keys and making delicious bread.  It's windy and cold and I feel bad for the guys outside, because it's not exactly like they are enjoying what they are doing.  But it's a part of life and it's an important thing to know how to do.  You have to be very clean and very careful and there are lots of steps to it.

Now I'm going to spin some wool and think about what to make for dinner tonight and avoid the outdoors.

Baby's in the basket.

Today started just like any other day... with goats. UNTIL.  Vicky discovered one of the babies had gotten her head stuck in the fence of the baby pen.  :[  She must have struggled all night, because she was so weak and exhausted she couldn't stand.  And all the other babies had ended up sleeping on top of her!  It was the saddest thing.  So she has been inside all day long either on a towel in the laundry basket or in my lap where her diaper leaked and she peed on me and the couch.  She has mostly been sleeping, sometimes she will whine, but she has been standing up by herself for short periods of time!  So, little Fawn (that's her name) will be fine in a day or two.

Oh, wow!  I just realized I didn't put up a picture of what a baby pile looks like.

I KNOW!  But imagine ten more.  The others were eating from the bucket while I took this.

ANYWAYS.  Back to another cute goat.

This was from this morning when Vicky first brought her inside.  She was finally warm so she passed out hard.

 

Here is her bed basket.

Here is Hummingbird being an adorable goat mom.

Here is me being an adorable goat mom.  She was giving me kisses.  (I KNOW I look tired.  It's because I'm not wearing makeup.  Why wear makeup on the farm?  Obviously the goats don't care and here is proof.  KISSES.)

Here she is in her basket again.  She is so cute.

Sooo... yeah.  That was my day.  I guess I helped milk goats and stuuuuffffff... I made minestrone and garlic rosemary biscuits for dinner.  They were delicious.  And now Hummingbird is making bread pudding, which sounds awesome.

I want chocolate.

OH.  I'm going to Vancouver next week for a few days!  I know it's soon, but I got businezz.  I'm excited.  I miss home.

Seals the deal.

This morning it was absolutely pouring and, not coincidentally, it's pouring again.  Ah, the joys of Washington.  I'm in a fabulous mood because after we did all of our chores this morning (in the rain) the sun came out!  And Hummingbird and I drove 5 minutes to the beach.  It was so beautiful and sandy!  Not rocky, like I was expecting.  The sun was out, the sky was clear.  We found neat shells and rocks and saw a seal!  Well, just it's head, but it was really cute.  Someone had built a neat structure out of driftwood and we sat there for awhile and watched the water and the seal's head.
If you go to the beach, you are basically at the end of the Kitsap Peninsula.  To the east you see Washington, to the west you see the Olympic Peninsula and to the north you see Canada!  Or Whidbey Island.  Or something.  I'm not totally sure.  I guess on clear days you can see the Olympic Mountains, but it just wasn't clear enough yet.
I also experienced the joys of exciting downtown Hansville.  There is a store and a church and an auto repair and a post office and.......that's it.  Seriously.  Some houses.  A tiny lighthouse that was CLOSED.  Woo!
We saw birds in the wetlands and big patches of nettles underneath old old trees in the forest.  We also saw a Golden Crowned Kinglet.  LE CUTE.
Thennnnn we went to a giant grocery store!  We got chocolate and nuts and oranges and stuff to make dinner.  I  made falafel (from scratch/my mom's awesome recipe), tzatziki and homemade garlic and dill tortillas.  Hummingbird made tahini sauce and carrot bread, which is baking right now.
Today was the first day I left the farm in a week!  So I feel rejuvenated and excited.  And sleepy.
It was a wonderful day.  I'm so thankful for sun and food and friends.

I wish I had pictures!!!

13 hours.

First of all -

Here is me feeding Alex Jr.  She is my sweetie.  We cuddle and she naps in my arms.

I woke up this morning at about 6:30 to the sound of babies crying on the baby monitor in the kitchen.  I really thought I was going to be too tired to get up and feed them, but I didn't anyways.  I really hate the sound of them crying, so I wanted to get out as soon as I could.  If their pens are silent, it means they're satisfied (moms know the drill).

After the babies were fed, we fed everyone else, except the bunnies.  There were no births going on, so we weren't terribly busy.  Last night, Hummingbird caught two roosters planned for slaughter and put them in a dog kennel so they would be there whenever we were ready.  It was kind of funny to see them in there and I almost took a picture, but realized it was a little morbid, considering why they were in there... Anyways, Vicky was going to show us how to slaughter and cut up a chicken.  It was really sad and even though I am okay with the logic of it and literally every part of the chicken is used, it's just sad and I am not sure if I could ever do it myself, unless I really had to.  After the chickens are killed and drained of blood, you take them to a pot of boiling water and dunk them in neck first (they don't have heads at this point) for 15 seconds, to loosen the feathers.  It was really interesting watching all of this happen and seeing the inside of a chicken.  It also gave me some more respect for Vicky (I already have so much!) because she can do/handle anything.  She's really amazing.
Since I had watched enough, I walked into the pens to check on a goat in labor named Carrie.  She had been in labor and pushing awhile, without much progress.  Vicky began to worry, so she woke up John.  He had the gloves and the jelly.  He had to go in!  Lindsay came out to help, she is an amazing goat midwife.  The other goats really wanted to be involved in the action and were causing problems, since it was quickly becoming a very difficult birth.  In situations where goats are being annoying, you simply need to bribe them with food.  Lindsay asked me to get a bucket of grain.  When I came back, John was standing at the big gate and said they were in a time crunch and he needed me to shake the bucket and walk towards the back pasture...  Before my tired mind had time to comprehend, I was being chased by goats.  It was really scary, I was so not prepared for that at all!  I got trapped a couple times and heads were weighing down the bucket at times, but we finally made it back there.  I think Lindsay helped, too, but it happened so fast, I can't remember... plus I was in fibro-fog all day long and sleep deprived... That kind of puts a damper on my brain.
After that, I decided to feed the bunnies.  They had 3 hands already for Carrie's birth and I was exactly sure that I wanted to watch.  I walked to the upper garden to pick some kale for them and I heard the worst screams coming from Carrie.  It was awful.  I walked back down and Vicky said she was worried they might lose her, but that it was really important I was there to watch and learn.  I was on the verge of a mental breakdown and I can't believe I held it in.
Carrie had one huge baby blocking the other two.  Only the giant one came out the right way, which is what caused her to scream like that (it was so loud).  The other two work backwards and John had to go in each time and try and re-adjust their positions, but they ended up coming out backwards.  They just needed to come out quick.  Finally, they were all out and Carrie was doing fine.  It was so scary, though, and very hard to watch.  But I did watch.  We named the babies Oreo (he looked like one.. but made out of goat), Vertigo (since he came out backwards, and Indigo (it rhymed).  After Vertigo came out, we weren't sure if Carrie was going to have another one.  Someone suggested the name Indigo, but it was vetoed because it's a girl's name.  And John said 'Well, Indigo is in there waiting to come out, I bet.'  And she did!  Everything was okay and she got moved into here own little pen to be with her babies.

Then it was time to feed the other babies, because we separated them from their mothers today.  Vicky and I went in and I had babies crawling all over me and sucking on my fingers like this:

It was awesome.
Baby goats are the best things ever.

Then after a little break, I finally had time to feed the bunnies.  As I walked towards the back with my bucket, I thought to myself 'We haven't checked on the does in the back for awhile... I bet someone's in labor.'  Sure enough, Biscotti had twins.  Thankfully, her birth went by easy and quick!  And there are only 3 or 4 pregnant does left.  Then things won't be so crazy.

I fed the bunnies and recovered from the emotional roller coaster of the day.  I took a half hour nap and made dinner

(The beats, turnips and kale were all collected from the garden!  And I threw a green and purple spotted egg in there from my favorite chicken.  Mmm..)
Vicky and I fed the babies again and now it's time for bed.  I'm exhausted.  Even though today was emotionally and physically demanding, it's so worth it.  You do it all willingly, because you love the animals.  And at the end of the night, you go to sleep with a happy heart and a full belly.

After birth.

We had 5 births today.  We are all exhausted, but really happy.  5 births with 9 babies!  It was a really intense day.  I mostly took care of the babies today and ran back and forth from the pens to the house to heat milk and get Miracle Magic.  There are 5 babies we have to bottle feed now, because another mom, Domino, because she also has CAE.

Miracle Magic is a mixture of warm water, molasses, coffee and a bucket.  We give it to the mamas after they have passed their after birth.  The molasses is so full of nutrients that it helps them drop their milk and the coffee is just a pick-me-up because they just gave birth.... 

There was placenta and afterbirth and sacks and babies everywhere.  And all the goats were eating each other's fluids and licking each other's babies... It was gross and adorable and amazing.

I think we got some more pictures.  I'll have some soon.  Time to chiiiiillll!

HEY. I have some pictures!

This is a baby goat born yesterday named Rhonda.  She's cute.


Here is Vicky holding Mel's (the Queen goat) two little does Lele and Harmony.

Here is Hummingbird fixing up the pens so the mamas and the babies can have their own little space until it's time to move them out.  They generally stay in for a week or so, I believe.

Here is Hummingbird with goat babies crawling all over him.  Isn't that adorable?  I love it.  In the next pen over is Penelope.  She still has afterbirth hanging out of her, which I saw/heard her eat and yes it was pretty gross, but I supposed I'll be getting really used to it.  Penelope had 2 bucks and 1 doe.  The doe is all the way to the left in the pen and I named her Honey Bee.  Isn't she cute?

 

Here is Vicky feeding Spot's newborns.  Spot cannot nurse her triplets because she has a virus called CAE.  It's kind of like goat HIV.  Humans can't get it, but it can be passed onto the babies, so we bottle feed them with a milk and colostrum combo from Queen Mel.

I get to feed them tooooo.  :]



Here is some wool that HB is dying for a tunic he's going to weave.  We get to learn how to weave on giant looms here, too!

Here is the wool that I spun myself!  I'm knitting my first hat ever with it.  I may or may not dye it.  It's so pretty white, but it could be purple...  It's all tangled and messed up right here, but Lindsay fixed it for me shortly after I took this picture.  So just imagine that it looks nice.