A Visit Home and our Honey House Demo

Hello! Well,, I suppose everyone is catching up on getting back to a regular routine after The Holidays! We had  a lovely visit home to my Parent farm in North East Ohio. I forgot how much I loved being able to see the sky for miles, amish buggies, and old barns. It will always be home!! But I will admit, the mountains were calling me back . A short and swift visit, but filled to the brim with family, love, laughter, and food, ohhh the food!!!
We even fit in a visit with My folks neighbors who own  Queens Right Aparies ( Beekeepers, farmers, and owners of all kinds of creatures,). They have a lovely store filled to the Brim with everything Beekeeping, and were kind enough to let us in after hours. They also have some wonderful exoctic animals which Norah really enjoyed!.

The New year is nearly here. While its still winter, Janauary is fil;ed with things to do on the Homestead. I have ordered some seeds and will start seeding my spring crops soon! Robb is getting ready to build more bee equipment and planning out this years goal/strategy . We also have some chicken coops that need mending, and need to figure out some fencing and shelter for the Piglets we will be getting in the spring.

We have had quite a bit of rain the past couple weeks. But did have a very warm SUNNY day last week that allowed us to get into our Honey "House" ( I put that in parantheses, because its actually a camper). We are knocking out some closets in order to make room for some new honey equipment.  As our apiary grows we are hoping to be able to purchase some bigger and better equipment to make the honey extracting process a bit smoother and more efficient.

HOME

 

 

 

Queen Right Colonies

 

 

 

Honey House Demo

 

well, I started typing this blog last night, and since then I believe my dog has eaten my camera chip, haha.. so the Honey House Pictures will have to wait!



Blessings
The Cool Family

 

 

 

Handmade Homemade Holidays

at the risk of sounding Cliché. I LOVE this time of year. The gardens are sleeping, the bees are tucked in , and my sewing machine has been dusted off after months of neglect. A time to warm myself by the woodcookstove, cook comfort food, bake treats for the family and prepare for The Holiday Season!
Of course, like any mom with a little girl, I succumb to some commercialism to make the little gals Christmas morning nothing short of spectacular. Although it is kept to a minimum, and I really enjoy focusing on handmade and homemade, and teaching Norah to enjoy these things too, as they really are the most special and genuine of all Christmas moments.

Here are some things we have been working on the past week.............................



Homemade
Chicken sausage

 17 lbs to be exact... we processed birds last week , froze some whole, and decided to make sausage with the rest. We ended up with ; Italian, hot Italian, Breakfast style, and Bratwurst,, all equally tantalizing!
Sounds like a good addition to Christmas morning breakfast, to me ;)


Handmade Bows ( and arrows)

My husband made these, and they are AMAZING. He made enough for the whole family , plus a couple more for Christmas gifts. Norah loves hers, and boy is she a natural! I just am not as good a aim, she told me I just didn't have the skills .. haha
He made arrows to go with the bows, but also bought some. The handmade ones are made with doll rods, and eraser tips.
I had a lot of people ask how to make these! I did say I would blog about it, but we just haven't had time .. I do promise to edit this blog and post a link on how to make them soon!


Handmade Quivers

I stitched up these quivers so the kids have somewhere to put their arrows.

Handmade Basket

I had so much fun making this and do believe I have found yet another hobby ;) after a walk through the woods yesterday morning, I decided to collect some ( what I believe is) Honeysuckle vine, and gave a try at making a basket. not to shabby for my first one. Ill be making more for sure. This may to go someone with some handmade gift in it, as it would make a lovely gift basket.


Handmade Hot pad

 

 These Hot pads are they result of a Rug gone wrong.. I braided miles and miles of fabric to make a rug last year. Well the rug was not turning out as expected. The larger the rug became,the harder it was to keep it from "waving" despite my efforts to wet the rug and set something heavy on it,, the large the rug got the less that worked.. SO, I turned these braided beauties into hot pad. I made one for myself and love it, and will be making a few for gifts.





Handmade Snowmen

We will be making these every year !! free, fun, and earth friendly :) Oh,and they won't melt ;)




and last ( well last for now) but not  least.. Handmade Snowflakes!

 I was a bit addicted to these this year. Norah and I spent a good couple hours experimenting , trying to cut out the perfect snowflake, A great craft to try with your kids!!!



From our Homestead to yours

Have a most blessed Holiday Season..

The Cools ~