Great White Hunter

It’s not even November and both kids have tagged out. Very proud to say the least! I am looking forward to having full freezers coming into winter. Tonight for dinner we ate some of FG’s deer. Nothing like it… pan fried in a little butter & salt!

A man is not where he lives, but where he loves:~day 15

Today would have been my farmer friend’s 77th birthday.  The picture above was taken back in April at a Celebration of Life we had for him.  I miss him each and every day but it is especially painful on dates of remembrance and celebration.  Just after Flower Girl shot her first deer I mentioned how proud he would have been of her.  He was one of the first people we called when Country Boy shot his first and second deer.  On both occasions he was at our house within minutes to share in their joy and excitement.  I couldn’t help but cry, not so much for his loss but for hers.

I visited his grave today as I do every Monday.  Today wishing him a happy birthday and I even threw out a few crackers for the birds, hoping they would come pay a visit. How he loved his birds!  He also loved kids and this song I’m linking to…. Amazing Grace was his absolute favorite.  The girl who sings it reminds me of FG.   Myron loved to hear FG play the piano.  This past Christmas day she even brought her keyboard down to their house  and played it for him and his wife.  Now she takes voice lessons, how he’d love to hear her sing……

 

(This was actually posted yesterday over at Bangor Daily News…a day late here on blogger)

“My First Deer”

In her words……”We were sitting in the tree stand and then all the sudden I could hear a sound in the woods.  I didn’t think anything of it because I thought it was a squirrel or a chipmunk.  Then my brother whispered in my ear that there was a deer in the field almost right below us.  Then two more came behind it.  My dad asked me if I wanted to shot and I said yes.  It walked for a very long ways before it turned broadside.  I flipped my gun off safety, I looked in the crosshairs and aimed above the leg and slowly squeezed the trigger.  That instant I saw it drop right in front of me.  I  began to cry tears of happiness.”

Apple Wine Making:~day 13

Last month Maine Man and I listened to a presentation on wine making at the Common Ground Fair.  The guy that spoke was completely down to earth.  I did not catch his name but he was a tall, burly, long bearded gentleman.  His first words were “I’m gonna keep this real simple…..” and that is exactly what he did.  Here are the notes I took from the CGF.  The ending part I really did not catch so for anyone with wine making experience please feel free to pick up where I left off.  I will add your advice to my notebook.

Supplies:

• 5 gallon bucket with cover
• airlock
• 5 gallons of cider
• sugar
• yeast (regular bread yeast is ok, you do not need any fancy wine yeast)

ratio

1.5 lbs sugar to 1 gallon of cider

1 teaspoon of yeast to 1 gallon of cider

Mix, keep at 70-85 degrees for fermentation

4-6 weeks alcohol will made

3-6 months wine will be clear

We did not have enough cider to fill the carboy so MM found a way to improvise as always.  He truly is my MacGyver!  He laughed when I showed him this picture and said “don’t use this technique at home.”

We plan to make a big batch next week  so any advice is welcomed!

I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat ….:~day 12

 

Take note of what is happening to the left.

…..I did!  I did!

Title inspired by an old time favorite cartoon!

Dreaming:~day 11

Maybe someday we will live off grid with no lines in the way of the natural beauty   I’m dreaming that maybe in the future we will build a little, bitty, efficient, low maintenance home out back along with a wind turbine constructed by Maine Man.  Of course the fully powered farmhouse with three freezers, walk-in cooler, etc. will be right next door.

Proud Moment:~day 10

Recently Flower Girl went up country to her Grampies with her Dad & brother.  There she shot her very first game birds.  I find comfort in the fact that they have a father that takes the time to teach his children proper gun handling and prepares them with skills that someday they may depend on.

Yesterday I overheard her and her brother talking about cooking up the partridges and she replied, “no, I want to cook that up and eat it them with Dad.” Love that girl and so proud of the young woman she’s becoming.  Hoping she gets her first deer this year too!