Oh Boy , It’s Cold Out !

 

WOW ! Is it ever cold out . Early this morning I went to let Miggs out to do her business and the cold and wind took my breath away as soon as I opened the door . The temps are -15°C with a wind chill of -26°C . Needless to say we wont be going for our walk with that roaring cold wind . The wind gusts are so hard this entire old farm house creaks and cracks .

                       So I started the wood stove going to get it all toasty and cozy .

Papa got me the Ove Glove for stoking the fire as it gets really hot and burns my skin , this glove is a god send , if you need protection from the heat of a fire place or woodstove this Ove Glove is awesome !

Then after I started making supper for tonight to put in my crock pot for the day , a hardy warm stick to your ribs Chilli !

I like to brown the meat before putting it in the crock pot .

As that is browning I chop up half and sweet cooking onion , red ,green, yellow and orange peppers .

I use kidney beans, I drain them , tomatoe past , diced canned tomatoes  and Manwhich sauce .

When the meat has all browned I put all the ingredients into the crock pot mix it all together then the last ingredient goes in.

One tablespoon of chilli powder then mix well and WALLA  !

By the time I was done the sun was shining in my kitchen .

                                                                                                  

                Now the smell of Chilli and the wood stove are wafting through the house  MMM !

                    So what's for dinner tonight at your house in this cold frigid weather ?

                                   Until next time stay safe and cozy & have a good day !

                                                            Country Gal

A Few Memories of Winter On The Farm

I found old photos of me on our little hobby farm when I was a kid and wanted to share them with you . My parents were just starting out farming when I was 2 years old . In this photo I am with my dad and our new young Holstein bulls , yes we lived off of our live stock  of cattle , sheep ,  chickens eggs and veggie gardens  and had pets of dogs, cats , horses , geese and the odd rabbit . Back then my mum was a home maker what they call homesteading now a days . Mum did canning , freezing and baking  , she also did knitting ,sewing crochet and embroidery  .

           Yes we named all our animals these two Holstein bulls were appropriately named

                                                                Steak & Hamburger !

Later on in the years my dad switched to raising  Herefords .

These are our horses the closest to the camera here is our boy Tardy now he got his name cause he took for ever to be born . The horse in the background is Gypsy a beautiful blue grey liver coloured rome, rare to see now a days in winter she was dark and shaggy .

       When I got older I had my own pony named Clyde a lovely welsh gelding !  Here Clyde and I had just finished our ride ! Clyde was raised as a hack pony so I had to retrain him to be ridden and how to make turns with out cross walking as though he was still pulling a cart or wagon . I also rode him bare back and trained him in equestrian , we couldn’t afford an English saddle !

This is  my old dog a Hungarian Vizsula  named Bessie with me she was a bird dog my dad and I took hunting and a great bird dog she was .

My brother and I getting ready to play hockey on our home made ice rink that was in the front yard dad made for us !

My mum always wearing her hand made aprons or piny  as we call them under her lumber jacket even when feeding the chickens !

This rooster was named Alfred he had a stump for one of his legs as he was born like that but he was quite the character , he always loved to hobble up our front steps in side to our kitchen peek around the corner and off he would go out again it was funny !

                              My dad  ,the funniest farmer I have ever known always the joker  !

This is how I remember the winters here in Ontario ! One year that door on the right of the photo was completely imbedded in a huge snow drift to the top of the roof it was about 15 feet and when we opened the door there was the door print left in the snow  and had to dig from the inside outwards ! The country roads were closed down for days and cars and trucks had to be left and the only vehicles that made it were skidoos , fellow farmers would help each other  .

       I am blessed to have been raised on a farm and have all the experiences of farm life  and will remember them for  the rest of my life, I grew up learning so much about life , to respect and love nature . I have country in my blood and am proud to be a

                                                     Country Gal

                                              Until next time have a great day !