In A nutshell

I am surprised I don't have more posts with this title, as I always feel that time gets away and I'm posting about whats going on , on the farm and homestead........... In a nutshell!

I found a moment of peace this a.m. My husband took my daughter to music camp , its quiet and I have my coffee,, a good time to sit , reflect and tell ya'll ( well as much as I can , there has been a LOT going on) what we have been up to!

GARDENS

They are more on the Jungle side of things now, or alteast getting there, but they sure were beautiful at one point , this is one of 4 gardens.....


THE BOUNTY

 A few photos of our Daily Harvests

THE FARM

its been a BUSY 4-5 months, we just pulled our Summer Honey ( about 1000 lbs) once that is extracted and in buckets, it will be time to get the girls ready for winter..
Here are a few photos from this Bee season.

COUSINS~
My Niece Collette Came down for a week. Norah and her had an amazing time!  From creek swimming To fort Building ~ Tree house redecorating to raiding the candy counter at the General store, :) I miss her already and sure hopes she visits again soon!

THE PIGS
Saying Goodbye To Bob and Terry was tough to say the least... We now  have a freezer full of meat to get us through winter and for that I am super Thankful... We will process 25 more chickens before winter and I still have a lot of garden Bounty to put up. We will be eating good this winter .


  So that's our summer In a Nutshell................................................



Blessings
The Cool Family

Snowed In

Hoping that snow is insulating our sweet honey bees

 Our road

Bob and Terry, our pigs, eating and then heading back in to the shelter, they aren't fans of the snow

Homemade pizza outta the woodstove, yes please

Sled, eat , repeat. Oh and bring some more wood in, haha..



Mother Nature snowed us in starting Friday evening,, Here we are Tuesday, and our roads are still a mess.. Getting out of here is a long haul in good weather, so you can imagine what 7" of snow will do..

Its been a wonderful 3-4 days.. Full of sledding, eating, baking, laughing, and spending time together.. yeah we are getting a little stir crazy, but a good walk in the woods can fix that right up ;)

There is something amazing about these moments in winter. We work so hard all spring and summer to grow our food, preserve our bounty, split wood, so we can enjoy the feeling complete self reliance.. we supply our own power, heat, water, and food...its a comfort worth all the work it takes to get to that point..
Go ahead snow us in for a couple weeks....,  KIDDING! haha,, no thank you.. It sure has been beautiful, but there is a reason I am living a wee bit south of where I used to live....

We are supposed to warm up quite a bit and get rain, which means the first 12 miles of my commute out of here will be 12 miles of MUD,, fun stuff.....

So for now we are snuggled by the woodstove enjoying the snowy view from inside....


Blessings
The Cools

Hello December!

Its very hard to believe the December is here. The weather has been unusually warm ( and dry, so so dry, but we did finally get some rain the other evening)
I am picking the last of the broccoli, there is lettuce, radish, beets, kale and chard going in the greenhouse, the neverending woodpile is just that. Never Ending....;)
I am starting to can some potatoes. I do not have a root cellar or any cold storage. so around this time of year I begin the inevitable chore of canning whats left and starting to grow eyes ....canned potatoes make amazing Fried taters!
oh and if you happened to just scroll by and didn't notice,, Ill post another picture ;)

Happy Birthday to me! My husband and daughter got me 2 American Guinea hogs for my Birthday! They will eventually become food for our family, so I am trying not to get too attached ( which has proven to be nearly impossible) considering their adorable demeanor...
A wonderful addition to Bee Kind Family Farm.

I hope you are enjoying the slower pace of winter, we surely are. While there is always something to be done, its not nearly as hectic and a much needed break from the craziness that is spring and summer.


Blessings
The Cool Family